Stay Safe For Me
by SilverBatFamily
Summary: When the Bat Family is captured, Dick Grayson must figure out where they have been taken, whilst tending to a broken wrist, working around a secret relationship, and struggling to ignore an offer. Jaydick. Rated T for blood/language. Comments are always welcome!
1. Captured

Dick surveyed the area from the cameras, as he watched the rest of his family enter the warehouse. His toe tapped the floor repetitively and Alfred laid a hand on his arm.

"They will be _fine_ Master Dick." Alfred soothed, seeing the distress that practically flowed off of the man.

Dick _hmm-ed_ but didn't say anything. He had been benched, after a run-in with the Joker left him with a broken wrist and a plethora of bruises.

The two of them watched as Batman, Red Hood, Red Robin and Robin moved into the building on the outskirts of Gotham through different entrances, silently padding into position. They had been setting up this raid for months, after an anonymous tip began to send them locations of drug and arms deals going on in the city. The anonymous person had been completely silent since giving them this tip three and a half months ago, and none of them could figure out who they were.

"Everyone in position?" Dick breathed, leaning back into his seat.

There were three whispered yeses', but Red Robin was silent. He shifted himself so that he could see more and frowned.

"Something's wrong; there's more people here than we planned for."

Batman narrowed his eyes and looked up. Red Hood and Red Robin were hesitating, but Robin had taken out two batarangs. He looked over the men in the deal.

"Carry on as planned but be careful. Do not take unnecessary risks."

The four of them tensed and jumped down from their individual positions. The men they jumped on went down, and the thugs immediately started to shoot at them; the bullets ricocheting off of the walls. Robin and Batman fought together in graceful fluidity, the Red's kept up an equally as terrifying fight, and all four took down thug after thug. But as Red Robin had said, there were more men than they had planned for, and after a while, Hood ran out of bullets, including his spares, and the four bats began to move in a defensive ring in the middle of the warehouse.

"It's a set up!" Red Robin yelled, taking out another thug with his staff.

A figure moved from in the shadows.

"Looks like this gathering needs to be cut short, _Bats_."

Before the figure could say anything else, Red Hood flashed out his grapple and attached it to the roof. Red Robin, Robin and Batman did the same. As they began to pull up, gun shots rang out across the room and the wires to the grapples snapped.

Dick's eyes widened as the wires snapped on the grapples. "Oh God"

He watched in horror as the four of the bats fell back towards the ground, and multiple darts flew out from the group of men gathered around the closed-in bats. The darts found their marks, and each member of the family on the bust passed out, going limp as they hit the floor.

"Secure them," the figure ordered, "and search everywhere for lock-picks, knives and trackers. Nightwing has not yet been captured, and there is a high chance he will stay hidden from us. Get the chains!"

The men dragged them off into the gloom of Gotham, and out of the view of Nightwing's cameras.

Dick was out of his seat and pulling on his Nightwing costume before he took another breath. He clipped on his belt and slipped his escrima sticks into their holders, before turning around to his motorbike.

"Master Dick! These men will be expecting you to go after them; if you go now, you _will_ be captured, or even killed!" Alfred said, standing in front of Nightwing to gain his attention.

"I cannot sit here without knowing what happened to them Alfie! What happens if I'm not fast enough and they're thrown in Gotham bay, or shot in the head, and I'm not there to stop it!" Dick was breathing heavily, his mind going through possibility after possibility, each worse than the previous.

Alfred's voice was softer as he looked at the Bat Computer. "Then perhaps you should find out who that mysterious figure was ordering the men around. He seemed to be leading the trap."

Dick moved over to the computer with a sigh; he knew Alfred was right. He took the footage from the cameras he was using and transferred it onto the monitor.

"Computer! Cross reference all known villains across Gotham, Bludhaven, Metropolis, Central, and Star City."

 _Referencing... searching... unable to detect links between other villains. Voice scrambler detected._

Dick smirked. "You won't hide from me for long Mr. Bad Guy..." his fingers flew across the keyboard, bringing up different pages of code. "Bingo!"

He moved the footage to the new page and linked the two things together. Both his and Alfred's eyes widened as the results came up onto the screen.

"Ra's al Ghul?"


	2. Information

Dick stared at the screen, his brain trying to wrap around this new information.

 _Ra's al Ghul? What was he doing setting up Batman? And why did he mask his voice?_

He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. Dick looked at Alfred behind him, who looked deep in thought. He turned back to the screen and rubbed his eyes, flinching as his wrist sparked in pain.

"What do you think he wants?" Dick asked, mostly just to get the question out there. He began to bring up the camera footage for the back alleys of Gotham, looking for any disturbances that were abnormal.

"I truly do not know Master Dick," Alfred said quietly, "and I fear you may have to find out rather quickly."

Dick turned around with a frown "why say that Alfred? Ra's hasn't been seen in Gotham for a few months at least!"

The old butler looked at his eldest pseudo-grandson with sad eyes. He gave a sigh and looked away. "I believe that Master Jason may have been in contact with the al Ghuls'. Or rather, he has been threatened by them I should say..."

Dick's world ground to a halt. "What? When? How come he hasn't said anything? Any of us could have helped! I could have at least got him to tell people! Why did he tell you, Alfred?"

Alfred blinked at the sudden panic filled voice that Dick had adopted when talking about Jason, but didn't think anything of it.

"I was just returning home from shopping, when I heard Master Jason was in the Cave. I was going to go down before I heard him talking to someone on his comm-system. When he replied to the person on the other end he sounded distressed and rather upset, and as he finished the call, he ended with 'you cannot make me do that to him al Ghul!' and the reply to that... sounded like the al Ghul he was talking to was threatening him..." Alfred moved to sit down on one of the chairs. "I did not say anything, for I knew he would say something if something was truly wrong, but he did not say a word. I was going to ask him tonight, but..."

"Alfred..." Dick reached across to Alfred and squeezed his shoulder. "Will you go over the camera footage for that day in the cave, see if anything came up? I'm going to do a quick patrol around Crime Alley for some piece of mind, as no one else is out on the streets tonight. Call me if you find anything?"

The butler nodded and slipped into Dick's seat as Dick hopped onto his bike. He revved the engine and took off; his heart beating a mile a minute as he thought of the secret Jason had kept from him. He knew Jay had a reason, but it still made his mind work furiously- what had Ra's wanted from him, or wanted him to do, and what was he threatening him with? His relationship with Jason had sky rocketed after he had been injured, and he had woken up to find Jason patching him up.

Nightwing made his way to Crime Alley with these memories on his mind, but after spending only 2 hours on patrol, his comm went off. "Nightwing? I believe I have a lead on where you can go to look for some information. I managed to get a name from the footage- 'Finley Jonathon' who is a regular at one of the small bars on the outskirts of Gotham, about 40 minutes from where you are now. From what I have found on our data bases about him, he is in that bar every night."

"Alright, thanks Alfred, I'm on my way." and with that, he climbed onto the roof, and bounded from roof to roof until he made it to the bar. He switched clothes in a nearby safe house of theirs and slipped into the bar with no trouble.

Dick could hear men and women yelling about fighting, yelling about drinking shots, yelling about yelling, and all smelling of cheap alcohol. Dick wrinkled his nose, looking around.

"There!" Alfred hissed into his comm, watching from the security cameras. As he said this, Dick saw an older man in a cracked leather jacket, sipping at a nearly-empty beer. He slipped into seat next to Finley and motioned for the barmaid to get 2 drinks.

"No one comes ta me unless they wan' somethin'," Finley's eyes moved to the drink Dick was offering. He took the drink and sighed. "Wha' is it that ya want?".

"I need to know the information you may have given a young man who has a white strip in his hair. It doesn't matter what you told him, I need to know." He slipped a picture of Jason across the bar to Finley, who took one look and frowned at Dick.

"What's the importance?" he drawled, taking a large gulp of his drink.

Dick growled low in his throat and Finley nodded.

"He came after I got information on the League of Shadows a few weeks ago. Somethin' about a meeting between the Demon's Head and another assassin, a hired mercenary, about a contract, and how they needed someone else to complete a contract? Yeah, something like that." he took another gulp from the beer and looked at Dick. "I don't know nothing else, I swear it... Though the guy with the white strip in his hair looked rather pale after I told him. Why do you need the info anyway?"

"None of your business" Dick snapped, getting up, sliding his untouched drink and money along the bar. "Alfred. Ra's was meeting with a mercenary about a contract. Someone else was needed. Do you think it was Tim? Or Damian? Or even Bruce?"

He heard Alfred hum over the comm line. "It would make sense, Master Dick, and it would make sense why Master Jason was so hesitant to do anything that Ra's wanted him to do. For all he says about not caring about others, he is rather protective of this... family."

Dick smiled despite himself. Jason had, when in their Gotham apartment, shown a completely different side of himself when around Dick. His kisses and touches were soft and gentle, and full of care.

But as he reminisced on his time with Jason, he almost missed a figure moving in the shadows. He skidded to a stop and gave chase to the figure. They ran across the roof tops, until the figure dropped into a side-alley.

Dick dropped after him, and felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Hello _Renegade_."


	3. Deathstroke the Terminator

There weren't a lot of people that Dick hated. Tony Zucco was one, Joker two. And in third was Slade Wilson. Deathstroke the Terminator. It didn't matter how old he was, from starting the Teen Titans, to training Rose, to just fighting Slade when he had a contract in Gotham, he hated Deathstroke the Terminator.

 _Hated the manipulation. Hated how small Slade made him feel._

So, standing in front of Slade now, thinking about his past experiences, he wanted to run away and hide. Preferably in Jason's arms.

"Slade" Nightwing took out his escrima sticks. There really was no point in hiding it from Slade; he would always know.

"Having fun looking for daddy dearest and brothers?" he drawled, beginning to circle the blue-clad hero.

Nightwing's head snapped towards Slade and he scowled. "How do you know about that? It hasn't yet been more than four hours! What are you doing here?" he tensed, gripped his sticks, and got ready to jump.

Then something clicked.

 _'a meeting between the Demon's Head and another assassin, a hired mercenary, about a contract'_

He let out a sign and closed his eyes. "You're the mercenary meeting with Ra's, aren't you?"

Slade regarded him with one glinting eye. Then he rushed in.

It was a flurry of attacks, Slade very obviously having the upper hand with the element of surprise, so it was all Dick could do to prevent Slade from running through with his sword.

"That's just rude Slade!" Dick yelled, a small smirk marking his face as he avoided another swing. "You could have at least told me if you wanted a dance!"

However much Dick hated Slade, he loved the rush of the fight, the alertness that only came when a sword was about the plough through his stomach.

Nightwing and Deathstroke fought in the alleyway until Nightwing decided he wanted the high ground. He vaulted off the large bins and swung off the railings, using his athleticism to his advantage. Slade growled and climbed after him, being too heavy in himself and suit to launch like Nightwing could. He chased Nightwing across the rooftops, until they reached Gotham bay.

Nightwing cursed colourfully in multiple different languages as he was cornered between two tall walls. Slade closed in, much like a tiger as he approached. Slade's focussed eye was trained on Nightwing as he moved towards him.

Nightwing feigned left and jumped right in a complex twist, but Slade leapt after him. He grabbed Nightwing around his throat and squeezed.

"Sla..." Dick's voice was choked off as Slade squeezed harder.

Slade cocked his head slightly to the side "ah ah ah, little bird, I can't have you running off before I deliver a message can I?" he grabbed Dick's left (uninjured) wrist in a bruising grip, and Dick stopped struggling. He clawed slightly at Slade hand around his neck, and coughed as Slade let some air in.

"Mess…age? Dick choked out, and Slade smirked.

"Yes, a message, keep up. Ra's wants you to come and meet him. He wants the whole family together apparently."

"What does that have to do with you and Ra's meeting? Why are you involved at all? Ra's has a mass crowd of annoying assassins at his beck and call! Why did he need _you_?"

Dick was frustrated with how nothing made sense. He thought about what Ra's wanted though, and the questions that came with it.

 _Was Jason hurt? Were any of the others hurt? Had anyone revealed that Jason had been talking with Ra's?_

Dick twisted sharply to the left and out of Slade's grip.

"Thank you for that info Slade, you got anything else to tell?" his voice was only slightly croaky, and he looked at Slade with a heaving chest as he fought for breath.

"You always welcome to be my Renegade, Grayson. A spot will always be open for you by my side." and with that, Slade send a dart spinning in Dick's direction, and before he could move, the dart hit his left thigh.

"Slade..."

"Bye Renegade" Slade whispered to Dick's rapidly fading world. As quick as he could manage, Dick reached for his comm.

"Alfred," he breathed into the comm. "Been hit with a tranq dart, Gotham Bay, Warehouse sixtee..." and his eyes closed.

 **Two hours and thirty-seven minutes later**

Dick came to in a bright room. He squinted, and glared at the white light above him, shifting slightly so he could sit up.

As his memory began to fill in about before he passed out, he got up to find Alfred.

"Alfie? You there?"

"Master Dick! I am glad you are awake; would you care for a drink and some pain medication?"

Dick frowned, and Alfred looked pointedly at his throat, where a collar of bruises marked him.

"A drink yes please, but no meds, they make my head funny."

Alfred sighed, and passed him a glass of water, as well as a ham sandwich. He fished something out of his pocket.

"This was in your hand on the rooftop from where I got you from. It says a date, time and place. What did Deathstroke tell you?"

Dick reached for the paper and sighed. "He said Ra's wanted to see me. Did you check out the place? Where is it?"

Alfred nodded, if not hesitantly. "It is an island in the middle of the Mediterranean, but we both know I am not the computer person that Miss Barbara is."

Dick nodded. Normally they would have got Babs involved, because she would insist, but she was in China waiting for experimental back surgery, paid for by Bruce Wayne. They wouldn't be able to get in touch for a few months at the least.

"The island is a known 'hideout' for the League of Shadows and will most likely be crawling with them. It really does not take a detective to figure out this is most likely a trap, Master Dick."

Dick nodded, then frowned. "Slade said that I would always be welcome as his Renegade, but his offer, there was something off about the way he said it, almost like he wouldn't be able to ask again; do you "

Both men stood in the cave until the elder broke the silence.

"With Master Bruce not currently here, you will have to attend his meetings tomorrow at Wayne Enterprises. You were already scheduled to be at one, but the other two, Master Bruce would have been be himself in. You have proven to be able to take care of the company by yourself while the others are missing. If you were to follow me to bed Master Dick."

Dick ran a hand through his hair, watching as Alfred walked up the stairs. He went to follow him, before his eyes landed on The Red Hood costume is one of the glass cases.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Little Wing, I will bring you home as soon as I can; that's a promise." Dick whispered at the case, pressing his hand against the glass. He slipped his hand the knife that Jason had got him on their 2-year anniversary of their getting together.

He and Jason had a secret relationship going on for almost 3 years now, hiding from the family because they wouldn't approve of the love they held for each other. That thought made his heart ache, but he had to live with it.

Dick moved away from the case, and made his way up the stairs, and slipped into his bed, falling asleep almost immediately.


	4. Jim Gordon and Ra's al Ghul

It had been 24 days since four of the Bats had been taken. Dick had been trying his best to keep up with the work that came with Wayne Enterprises, while spending his nights keeping Gotham semi-safe. After only 13 days going out as Nightwing, he began to patrol as Batman to keep the crime at bay. It was Gordan who figured it out first. The changes in fighting style, and the subtle switches in costume.

"Problems with the family, Batman?" he murmured one evening, handing 'Batman' a file full of the newest murder spree case information.

The man in the batsuit looked at the Commissioner. "Something like that Gordon; Robin, Red Robin, Red Hood _and_ Batman were taken by Ra's al Ghul just over three weeks ago, and I managed to break my right wrist in two places, after only one week of it being healed. So, all in all, I'm just peachy. How's Miss Gordon?"

Jim blinked at the Bat. "She's still in China, waiting for the surgery. She should be getting the measurements and tests done now. I asked if she wanted me there, but she said I was desperately needed here. Have you any way of getting the rest of the Bats back?"

Batman grunted. "Have a lead. Thanks Gordon. " he hesitated slightly, before focussing on the Commissioner. "I'm going to be out of town for hopefully no more than a few days, can… could you and the force hold down the fort for that time?"

Gordon blinked "No problem, don't get yourself killed." The Bat nodded and jumped down.

As Gordon watched the Bat, he heard the door go behind him.

"I don't get why we need the Bat in Gotham, Commissioner. He needs to be arrested before he goes too far. The police force here _needs_ sorting out if they really need the Bat to do the dirty work for them."

Gordon turned around to see one of the newer men on the force, Officer Trevor, along with a few others. He had been transferred from Ohio when he married and had always expressed his dislike for the Bats. He had managed to turn the opinions of some of the other newer recruits that hadn't lived in Gotham for very long.

Gordon narrowed his eyes angrily but took in a calming breath. "Batman and his partners have done more work in Gotham than any person, or group of people could achieve. I hope you have investigated the police reports I have personally done on the Bat? If not, I suggest you do. Over the years of me knowing the bat, I have gained something that many people take for granted today."

"And what is that Sir?" one of the lower ranking officers in the group asked, moving so the Commissioner could see him. The other men and women looked expectantly at Gordon, and Gordon regarded them with a blank look.

"Trust"

When he saw the officers were stumped, even shocked with _that_ reply, he carried on.

"I was one of the first people to except him as a force of good. I met each of the Robins when they first joined the Bat's crusade. I have actually watched as they grew up along-side the Bat, then I saw, when he went missing, the eldest take up the mantle of Bat for a time. I have seen them fight together, as a _family_. They can read each other incredibly well, so well that they don't have to call out to each other in a fight, because they know they will all have each other's back. And without the Bat? Gotham would be a burning pit of Hell; a pit with some psycho like the Joker as king. Would any of you want that?"

Seeing the pale officers trying not to look him in the eye, he knew his point had gotten across.

"Couldn't have said anything better myself, Commissioner." A dark voice rumbled from behind him.

The group of officers on the roof near the bat symbol shrieked, and ran inside, barging past each other to get away from the Big Bad Bat.

The Commissioner laughed out loud, _hard_. The Batman stood on the edge of the roof, grinning, which did look slightly odd in costume.

"Oh Lord knows I needed that!" Gordon laughed out, a large smile on his face as he turned to the Bat. Batman gave a two-finger salute and took off across the rooftops, a smirk on his lips.

 **On an island in the middle of the Mediterranean (because I am not creative)**

Ra's al Ghul walked down the corridor of his underground base, into the Great Hall, where his four prisoners stood in their glass-box confines.

"Having fun?" he asked, knowing full well what the answers would be.

The four of them were unmasked, but still in costume, giving off an air of professionality in the room. The room itself was incredibly grand, but Ra's was the only other person in there, due to the unmasked vigilantes on show.

Jason cursed colourfully under his breath, right alongside Damian, whereas both Tim and Bruce stayed silent. Finally, Bruce spoke up.

"Why have you come here Ra's? You haven't been in since you first put us in here. What is it that you want?"

Jason and Damian went silent as Ra's gave a sigh.

"I bought you here with news on the Missing Bird, so stay quite please. Or rather, I have some videos of the _Bat_."

The captives went rigid and still as the words sunk in. Ra's smirked at the shocked looks on their faces and began the video on the large screen in the room.

The video was a mixture of Dick as Nightwing fighting a group of thugs, as well as Batman fighting Two-Face and several low-ranking criminals. Another video was of Nightwing and Deathstroke. The final video was of Batman and the Joker, the Joker taunting Batman and he sent out waves of grenades.

Batman finally got close enough to land a kick in the Joker's chest, before the Joker swung round with a metal pipe. It was obvious Dick hadn't seen it, and the heavy pipe made violent contact with his right wrist. Dick roared in pain and the Joker burst out in hysterical laughter, before Dick struck the Joker in the cheek. The clown landed on the floor with a thud and the Bat staggered back, hissing through his teeth as he cradled his wrist. The wail of police sirens cut through the air, and Batman took off onto the rafters; his wrist pressed against his chest.

The video cut off, and Ra's looked at the captive Bats' expressions.

They were all showing little emotion, but there was an air of worry permeating the air as the video cut off.

"That was 4 days ago, and the Joker is back in Arkham Asylum as of now. I got information that Richard's wrist was broken in 2 places, but he has had to go back on the streets anyway due to a new string of murders in Gotham."

"Why show us Ra's?" Bruce growled, his eyes sharp and angry.

The Demon's Head went silent, before turning away from his captives.

"Because I wanted you to know his condition before he gets here tomorrow."

There was, as expected, a number of outraged cries from the Bats behind him, so he waited until they were quiet before he continued. "Richard was given a message from Deathstroke when you first went missing to meet with me, to organise your releases. He does not know this yet, but he has something I want. And if he does not give it to me, I will have to resort to… more violent methods with you; to convince him of course."

No one spoke up, he just received harsh glares from all of them.

"Richard shall get here tomorrow. I believe he will give me what I want."

And with those ominous last words, Ra's exited the Great Hall, head held high, leaving four figures alone with their thoughts once again.


	5. Meaningful Breakfasts

Ra's watched the CCTV cameras in his Great Hall to gauge a more accurate representation of the reactions to the information he presented to the Bats. The Dark Knight looked slightly more angry than normal, but nothing unexpected. His grandson was much the same; angry, but more concerned looking. The young detective of the family looked on edge, analysing the videos as they played; making sure he missed nothing of importance.

But the person who really intrigued him was Jason Todd. He was turned slightly away from the rest of them, looked intently as the screen, his eyes sweeping across Richard Grayson's face, his figure and his injuries. Ra's watched the unmasked vigilante jerk sharply to the side when Richard screamed in pain as his wrist broke fighting the Joker. The movement wasn't enough to bring the other's attention, but it was enough for Ra's to become interested. He was under the impression that Grayson and Todd weren't particularly close, but latter's reaction to the former on the video began to change that opinion. The black sheep of the bat family continually showed much more concerned, protective emotions to the video, and Ra's watched as, when he told the captives on the footage of the broken wrist, Jason closed his eyes and mouthed under his breath _'should've been there. That's on you Todd'_ to himself.

It was time for more investigation.

 **In the Batcave**

The Batmobile roared into the cave, a dark figure jumping out. Dick threw back the Bat's cowl and flicked through the black folder he had been given by Gordon. Alfred approached him quietly, holding a tray of peppermint tea and sandwiches. He looked over Dick's shoulder and sighed as he saw the pictures in the folder.

"Is this a new person or one of our regulars?" Alfred asked, placing the china tray on the table to the side of the computer as Dick sat down.

Dick closed his eyes. "The victims are all blonde girls, all _beheaded_ cleanly. Other than that, there isn't much connecting them. Ages 6 to 25, different eye colours, different parts of Gotham. I would say Jervis Tetch, but Gordon says he is still in Arkham. Maybe someone in his name?" he handed Alfred some of the photos and sighed.

"It does seem like his MO, Master Dick, have you checked the cameras?"

The younger of the two ran a hand through his hair and sipped the tea. He began to search the Arkham footage for Jervis Tetch for 95 minutes until he jolted in his seat.

"There! Alfred! There's a loop in the footage for less than 4 minutes in Tetch's cell!" Dick's eyes were wide as Alfred joined him looking at the computer.

Alfred nodded slowly. "I do believe you are correct Master Dick. But I must insist that you get some sleep. You are going to meet Ra's al Ghul tomorrow, and it would be best if you were at full strength any fight that may occur." The butler stared at the Bat sitting at the computer before Dick sighed, giving up.

No one could win against Alfred.

Dick ate the last of his sandwich on the tray before moving up the stairs, shutting the cave opening behind Alfred as they reached the top. He went to bed, a heavy feeling weighing down his heart.

He missed Jason.

Jason had a habit of disappearing in the early morning every now again, but he would always leave a quirky note behind to make Dick laugh. As he came back, he would always sneak through Dick's bedroom window to hug him until morning, then they would then go downstairs for breakfast together.

When Dick and Jason both moved back into the manor, Bruce had welcomed them with open arms, and given them floor four of the six flour manor. He told them to at least try and share the floor without killing each other. But the two were already in a relationship, and after soundproofing their joint bedroom, they were incredibly comfortable to live together in a secret-from-the-family relationship.

Now the bedroom was cold and lonely. Dick curled under the sheets, trying to imagine that Jason was snoring behind him, exhausted after a long patrol. But nothing worked. He sat up, rubbing his eyes with his left hand. When he looked at the clock a large, red, blinking 4:27 glared at him. Dick sighed and pulled the sheets over his head and _finally_ dropped off to sleep.

When he woke, he once again checked the clock. 11:52. Dick closed his eyes before pushing himself out of bed. "Alfred?" he called, pulling on his t-shirt. He paused at the top of the stair, breathing in.

 _Bacon and eggs._

 _Jason's favourite._

Dick closed his eyes and bit his lip so hard it drew blood. He made his way downstairs and sat at the kitchen island, looking at Alfred.

The Wayne family butler looked nervous, slightly pale, but he had a steady hand when moving the bacon to the plates.

Alfred placed Dick's plate in front of him. "Are you alright Master Dick? Your hands are shaking."

Dick shook his head slightly and looked at Alfred. "What if I can't get them home Alfie? What if I get captured or killed before I can get anyone out? We don't even know why Ra's wants me there!

The butler looked at the younger man in front of him. "Master Dick, as much as I sometimes did not agree with Master Bruce training you lot to be vigilantes, I have to say that you have earned the title of Batman." Alfred put his own plate of breakfast down and placed his hand on Dick's shoulder, "you may not have wanted to be Batman, but you have become your own man. You have got yourself a family that you love and care for, as well as a healthy relationship."

Dick's head snapped up at Alfred, looking into his old, knowing eyes. "H-how long have you known Alfie?" he asked weakly, eating a mouthful off eggs.

"I know everything that goes on in this house Master Dick. You should know that by now. You should also know that you are one of the best people I know. You and Master Jason deserve a happy life together."

Dick nodded his thanks and they finished their breakfast in silence. Dick swallowed pain killers and Alfred re-wrapped his wrist, before putting on his Nightwing suit. Dick stood on the edge of the Batjet's platform and hugged Alfred.

"I-if anything happens Alfie, anything at all, you cannot let Bruce blame himself, okay? Please?" after seeing Alfred's shaky nod, he smiled and turned into the plane.

He started up the engines, placed in the coordinates, and began to take off in the jet.

He waved Alfred goodbye, and closed his eyes. He was going to try and get a few hours sleep extra before he confronted Ra's.


	6. Meeting Ra's al Ghul

While on his way to the island, Dick began to dream. Normally, when he dreamed under times of high stress or pressure, he would experience nightmares and terrors. Sleeping now was no different; he was thrown head first into a burning Gotham.

" _This is your fault Grayson."_ A voice hissed from the smoke.

"D-Damian?" Dick whipped himself around to see a shadowed Damian, with a _dagger in his chest_. "What happened to you? Who did this?"

" _You did. You didn't find us. Didn't save us from Ra's al Ghul."_ A growled voice shook the air as Tim came into view, a silver spear protruding from his heart.

"No! I'm coming! I'm on my way now! I'm coming to try and save you all!" Dick's voice shook as he spun around.

" _Too late, you're weak Dick; too weak to save anyone"_ Bruce's voice spat at him, making him flinch.

"N-no! I-I am coming. I'm going as fast as I can!" Dick stood at full height, not realising he had begun to stoop.

" _You didn't keep your promise Dickie-bird…"_

That voice made Dick begin to shake slightly. He turned so he was face-to-face with Jason, who had his neck turned slightly to the side, indicating a broken neck. Dick swallowed and shook his head, but Jason tutted at him.

"You shouldn't be trusting. Ra's won't give you what you want. This is what happens when you trust a murderer…" he gestured around his at the burning remains of Gotham. "You shouldn't even trust me…" he seized Dick by his throat his both hands; squeezing. Dick was thrown back to his fight with Slade, before being choked back to Jason's face.

"Jason, please! It's not… not you! You would never do this to me!"

Jason laughed cruelly, and he screamed as he clawed desperately as Jason squeezed tighter and tighter around his neck.

" _You should be careful who you trust, Dickie…"_

Dick flew out of the chair he had fallen asleep in, his hands scraping down his neck, breathing heavily. He moved out of the control area and into the main part of the jet, to check himself over; he could feel warm liquid moving slowly down his neck. He looked at his reflection in the mirror; he looked _awful_. He was pale and shaking slightly, and his throat was covered in bloody marks from his uncovered fingers; he was _really_ regretting not putting on his gloves before falling asleep. Dick realised that he wasn't going to be able to hide the marks; any bandages would be too obvious and too restricting in a fight. He blew out a breath, Jason's words replaying in his head.

A beeping on the monitor drew his attention to the front of the jet.

 _Signal incoming. Signal incoming._

A buzzing sound made him walk forward, towards the monitor and camera, but not showing his face yet. He heard a quiet, almost mocking voice speaking to him.

"I assume you are in al Ghul airspace for a reason?"

Dick scowled at the screen, a masked man stood watching what Dick knew was a view of the top of the jet.

"I am here on invitation." Dick growled, subconsciously touching his scratches. 'Some of those will scar' he thought.

"You have been cleared for landing on the North-West side of the island. Do not attempt to shoot anything- you will be neutralised without a second thought.

He doubted anything less from Ra's.

Dick took control of the jet and proceeded to guide it to the North-West of the island. Any other time and he would really admire the island- it was beautifully green and full of trees; but he wasn't stupid. He could see flashes of silver metal, which were most likely deadly traps.

He was broken out of his musings as the jet touched down, and his stomach doing an unpleasant flop as he gathered his weapons together. He strapped Jay's knife to his leg tighter and pressed the button to get out of the jet.

As the platform set down on the ground, his uneasy feeling grew. The wind stung his clean cuts, but he was glad he cleaned them before landing. There were no visible people as he got out of the jet, but he knew he was being watched. His movements were graceful as he gripped his escrima sticks tightly and walked along the path from the landing pad.

Nightwing walked through the trees for about 20 minutes, winding around rocks and large trees, tensing every time he heard movement.

Finally, he reached a cave opening. He paused, took a breath, and walked into the lit cave. The cave itself lead downwards and opened into a wide corridor. Nightwing raised an eyebrow. _Was Ra's expecting him to know where to go?_

As if answering his unasked question, an assassin walked forwards from seemingly nowhere. The assassin gestured stiffly for Nightwing to follow him, and after countless corridors and turns and doors, he reached a large wooden door. The assassin nodded and walked away, disappearing around the corner.

After a deep breath in, Nightwing pushed the door inwards with his fist, his escrima sticks still held tightly in his hands.

"Ah, you're here, Grayson. You did take your time. I thought for a second you wouldn't show. Come in! Come in."

Dick knew it was a request. He knew orders when he heard them.

He made his way inside, walking with much more confidence than he felt. He felt his mouth move into an easy smirk. He saw the people he had come for, standing with chained wrists and in glass boxes. Jason sported a dark blue bruise on his cheek, but no one else seemed injured in any way. His eyes paused when looking at his Boyfriend, searching for anything else wrong. Jason caught his eyes and conveyed a silent message _'I'm alright'_.

"You know I would ignore your invitation for tea Ra's," the smirk turned sharp. "Especially when said invitation is delivered so… _kindly_.

Ra's smiled easily, shaking his head. "I do apologise for any injuries you received obtaining my message Grayson. Deathstroke is always one for _dramatic flair_ when around you."

Dick narrowed his eyes and moved forward. "What is it that you want to gain from having me come here Ra's? I faced almost no opposition to get in here."

Ra's al Ghul regarded Nightwing with interest. Instead of answering his question, he moved forwards in steady steps. Dick tensed, but Ra's just reached out and touched his throat.

"Where did you get these cuts Grayson? They look fresh. Did you fall over on your way here?"

"Yes. Then I rolled in sharp thorn until they bled." Dick deadpanned, stepping back.

Ra's raised an eyebrow. "How did you actually get them?"

Dick wasn't sure why he felt like telling Ra's, but he sighed and adjusted the grip on his sticks. "I woke up clawing at my throat because I dreamed I was being choked."

The words were said so flatly that even Ra's looked surprised. "Now what _is it_ that you _want_ Ra's?"

The Demon's Head looked over Nightwing, then at each of his captives.

"I wish for you to host the Lazarus Pit"


	7. Knives Tell the Unwanted Secrets

No one moved. The silence was deafening. It was only broken by Dick, who looked rather pale.

"W-what on _earth_ does that mean! The Lazarus Pit isn't a living entity! You can't 'host' something that has no life!"

Ra's shook his head. "A number of years ago, _hundreds_ of years ago, a man hosted the Lazarus Pit; he went by the name of Baqir Hamawi. He was a level headed and loyal man who I knew very well. But he was captured, chained, weighted and thrown into the bottom of the river. The poor man was sought after for his connections to the Lazarus Pits; but he was incredibly well trained."

Dick swallowed the lump in his throat and put his escrima sticks back into their holders. "Why has no one tried to replicate the 'hosting of the Pit?" he asked. He locked eyes with Jason, who looked pale and very sick.

"There have been many who have tried, but no one realised that Hamawi was of an incredibly rare blood type; AB negative. Before people realised this, they took part in the experiment and died a horrible pain-filled death. You Mr Grayson, are AB negative blood type."

Dick was staring at Ra's. He blinked and inhaled sharply. "How do you know I am AB negative? And also, why do you need a person to host the Pit? What are the benefits?"

Ra's nodded slowly and turned around to sit in his chair. "The Lazarus Pits, in recent years, has been unpredictable in its power. As you know, they bring people back to life, with certain… side effects" a snort from Jason, "but one man made a deal with me to bring his son back to life in return for his own life. But when his son's body was put in the Pit, he… it bought him back to life as a zombie version of his previous self."

Jason's jaw dropped alongside Tim and Dick, Damian looked ill, whereas Bruce grimaced.

"This is because the Pit has gone too long without a host to guide and channel it's power. It will be a long and painful experiment, but I will have you host the Lazarus Pit in exchange for your family's lives."

The air turned frosty and tense. Dick's hands began to shake as he thought of the implications of if he agreed. He clenched his hands and looked up. Jason was staring intently at him, eyes alight with anger.

"No. No way. You can't do this Dick; it could kill you! You can't take that chance!" He turned to Ra's. "And what happens if he successfully hosts the Pit Ra's? What happens then?"

Ra's gave a small smirk. That smirk made Dick's stomach curl. "We will come to an agreement of the points in the year when he can stay at home, and the points when he will stay at my side controlling the Pit in the league of Shadows."

Dick took an involuntary step back, his hand moving to smooth the knife on his leg in a calming motion. Apparently, Ra's saw this movement and walked forwards in quick, smooth steps. Dick stiffened and flinched as Ra's took he knife from its sheath strapped to his leg.

"What's this?" he murmured, twisting the knife in his hand. He studied the knife until something caught his eye. "It's engraved…" he smirked, looking at Dick, then turning around to face the family. "it says 'to my one and only'; who gave you this Grayson?"

Bruce, Tim and Damian were staring at him, shocked, but Jason was pale, his eyes wide as he locked eyes with Dick. Dick stared back at Jason, feeling unbelievably vulnerable under the gaze of everybody. He didn't answer Ra's, who's eyes narrowed. "Answer the question Grayson."

Dick swallowed but shook his head defiantly. If he admitted it, Ra's would use it against them, but by the look on his face, he already knew.

"Answer. The. Question." Growled Ra's, stalking up to Nightwing, standing face to face with the young hero. When Dick still didn't answer, Ra's struck him hard across the face, sending him crashing to the ground. "You should listen when I ask you a question Grayson." He spat and pulled out a remote. He clicked a black button on the remote, and they all looked to the side of the room as a screen flickered to life.

Dick, still on the floor, looked at the screen and almost choked. It was a small place in the middle of the woods in Italy. Him and Jason had gone on a mission together, and it had clashed with their 2-year-annaversary.

In the video, Dick was leaning up against a tree sleeping; and there was movement behind him. Dick woke up and looked around. _"You're not even trying to be quiet, Jayjay…"_ his in-video-self slurred, still within the grasps of sleep. Jason came into view, holding a silver box.

" _You got me a present earlier, it's my turn Dickie-bird… Look…"_

Dick woke up completely and slid the box from Jason's hands and took out a knife from the box _"'To my one and only' aww Jaybird, you're going sappy on me!"_ then the video shut off.

Zoning back into Ra's' Great Hall, Dick looked around at his family. Damian's jaw was on the floor, Tim was _staring_ at the floor a contemplating look on his face, and Bruce… Bruce was watching Dick, a small downturn of his lips the only indication of his thoughts on the matter.

He looked at Jason, who was shaking slightly, pointedly not looking at anyone.

Well, now _that_ secret was out. Great.

Ra's walked over to Dick, who was still on the floor, staring in shock at the blank screen. He grabbed Dick's chin and forced it up. "Will you take part in the experiment if I let them go?" he asked, gesturing to the captives.

Not trusting his voice at all, Dick stood up, snatched his knife from Ra's, then nodded once, sharply.

"Good… now would you like any of them to stay with you for the experiments?" Dick looked at Ra's in surprise, but before he could answer, Jason spoke up. His voice was commanding, daring anyone else to oppose him.

"I'll stay. It isn't fair that Dick must suffer through all the experiments by himself; I also know the effects of the Lazarus Pit the best out of us four."

Dick looked at Jason and smiled, albeit wobbly.

"No! I won't let you stay Jason!" Bruce said sharply, finally getting his voice back. "We don't know what would happen if you stayed and we left you here!"

"You can have my word that he will not be harmed while he is here, if he causes no trouble that is." Ra's clapped his hands once. "The decision has been made. You have five minutes to say your goodbyes for now. After you leave, follow the League member out to the jet Grayson bought here." And with that he left through the doors.

The chains that bound the Bats fell to the floor with a click, and their glass confines opened easily. Jason bolted forwards at the same time as Dick, and they crashed into each other, squeezing tightly. When Dick let go, he marched over to Bruce.

"B, I'm sorry we never said anything… it was important to us and we didn't want to end it! So, either accept it or don't."

Bruce looked at Dick, then at Jason. He shook his head and a smile broke across his lips. "Please be careful. Both of you. I-I don't want to lose either of you over the next few weeks; _be careful_ " he pulled Dick and Jason into a crushing hug, before letting go and stepping back.

"Do not do anything stupid Grayson; or you Todd. I expect you home for C-Christmas" no one said anything about the stutter, and Dick embraced Damian tightly.

They looked at Tim, who had one eyebrow raised. "I already knew. You guys didn't soundproof the ceiling. My bedroom _was_ above yours until I moved rooms; but even if it means nothing, I am happy for you."

Dick inhaled sharply and put his arms around his brother. "It means the world Tim." He shut his eyes as tears began to pool in his eyes.

The three Bats moved stutteringly towards the door; not looking back. The wooden doors shut with a bang, and Jason took Dick's shaking hand.

Two assassins came into the room, gesturing for Dick and Jason to follow them. They were led down corridor after corridor, down two sets of stairs, until finally they reach an open door. The assassins stopped outside the door, and the two birds walked in. The doors shut behind them, and Dick turned to Jason, letting his tears fall. Jason shut his eyes as he hugged Dick. The two of them stood there for hours before Jason realised that he was crying too.


	8. To Begin the Testing

The suite they had been given contained a large king-sized bed, a small en-suite, and a collection of books. Not that Dick or Jason noticed of course. The two of them spent their spare time together, curled under the duvet in their underground rooms.

The two of them had spent their first night on the island leaning against each other for support; crying until they had no tears left. Jason had picked Dick up and lifted him onto the bed, curling around him and dropping off to sleep. The two of them had not woken up until at the very least midday, finding a meal of chicken, bread and salad just inside the room. As well as the food, a small letter was folded on the tray.

 _Richard Grayson._

 _There is another reason that you are suited for the Host of the Lazarus Pit. As you know, I was in touch with one of your former mentors, Slade Wilson. We agreed on a contract. You would become the Host of the Pit and spend some time at home, some time with me, and finally, what you did not know, some time with Slade Wilson. It is a required factor for you to take part in, you do not have a choice on the matter._

 _I mentioned in my description of Baqir Hamawi that he was a loyal man. I missed out a piece of information that may interest you. Hamawi's morals was in flux. He tended to disappear into the night, come back days later with unexplained wounds. No one would ask where he would go because of his connections with power. But I had my suspicions. Hamawi had a conduct of killing. He would only kill when absolutely necessary; in his time, he only killed four people that we know of. He supposedly never stole or caused disturbance for any other person. Until I went through his personal diaries, I believed all of it. Apparently, according to his diaries, when he went out without other people's knowledge, he went hunting for riches. He was a rather greedy man. He stole jewels from the rich people and killed those who saw him, because he loved the rush of exhilaration when he ran. When he stole._

 _Although it is much the opposite with you, there are some similarities, aren't there? You enjoyed the rush of exhilaration when Renegade, being a_ villain _. Not having any responsibilities to have to follow. Think on that._

Dick had read the letter to Jason, and the two of them _had_ thought over it. After spending nearly a week mulling over the letter, resting and looking around their suite, they received a letter to meet Ra's in his private quarters. The two of them had changed their clothes reluctantly into League of Assassins getup and opened the door to see a single assassin ready to take them to Ra's. They followed him down more corridors to Ra's.

They entered the rooms and Ra's motioned for them to sit down.

"I believe that you wish to know how the experiment works, yes?" he said, reclining on his plush sofa.

"Do _not_ call it an experiment, but yes, I do want to know how it works, and when it will start." Dick said, narrowing his eyes at Ra's and leaning into Jason.

"You will find out how it works today actually, as the experi… the testing will begin in a little over two hours. I suggest you get yourself prepared before anyone comes for you. Conserve your energy. Jason, you will be allowed to observe, but not interfere in anyway, or be punished. I suggest you head back to your rooms."

With that information gained, Jason and Dick headed out; looking behind them at Ra's' smile. When they got into their suite, Dick pulled Jason against him, kissing him slowly.

"What's this for?" Jason murmured against his mouth.

Dick wrapped his arms around the younger man. "Just in case I'm not quite the same in three hours' time." Dick kissed Jason hard and possessively, Jason kissing back just as hard, moving so his arms were around Dick's waist.

He pulled his lips away from Dick "You will _never_ be too different for me to love Dickie-bird…"

Dick's eyes widened, Jason would never use thee L-word unless things were really upsetting him. He squeezed Jason tighter.

 **Two hours later, in the chamber of the Lazarus Pit**

There weren't many people in the chamber, Dick noted, moving in slow, graceful steps towards the machine near the top of the chamber. The machine itself made him want to run away. It was around 2 metres tall, and had one metal back, two glass walls and one sliding glass door. He could see silver locks on the side of the door, along with copper wires at the top. Leather straps were situated inside the box, probably, Dick thought, to prevent too much movement. There were two tubes that were attached to needles on one side, and to… the walls on the other? They were probably important.

Ra's stood next to Jason as the bottom of the chamber, Jason had his eyes trained on him directly, watching his every movement. Dick climbed into the box, and the assassin that was normally outside of their chamber strapped him in, inserting the needles into both of his arms. He coiled the copper wires loosely around his arms, chest and legs, before shutting and locking the glass door and walking down from the highest part of the rocky chamber

Ra's al Ghul walked forward towards a raised button, looking up at Dick as he did so. The assassins surrounding him straightened up, raising their weapons in the air. Dick didn't have time to question it, because at that moment Ra's struck the button, causing the chamber to shift in what felt like an _Earthquake_ on the island.

The wires kicked up in gaining currents of electricity, and Dick gritted his teeth in pain. He watched in horror as the tubes connected to the wall began to fill with green liquids. _Lazarus_ green. As the liquid began to enter his body, Dick writhed in pain; the feeling was like his blood being turned to acid! The electricity increased, and Dick let out a cry, squeezing his eyes shut against the pain. In the back of his mind he heard shouts from below him, as well as splashes of water; _what was that about?_ He opened his eyes to see what was happening, and _screamed_ as a fresh wave of Lazarus Water was pushed through his veins; below him, the Lazarus Pits tossed and turned in violent waves, thumping against the sides of the chamber they were in, and as Dick let out another scream, the waves pulsed in tandem with his voice, rising and crashing down.

The cavern shook more violently, making Dick close his eye against the vertigo. He through back his head, bashing against the metal wall behind him as the electricity combined with the waters rushed through him. He strained against the straps, making his wrists bleed with the force of his pulling. The pain of the burning got worse and worse and _worse_ , until Dick realised he was screaming non-stop, thrashing inside the box, with the sole, primal need to _get out_.

Before he could act on that need, the pain dulled dramatically, his head dropped, and he stopped thrashing. At first, he thought he had passed out, until he felt hands on his arms, uncurling the probably hot copper wires from his body, undoing the straps and ripping out the needles from in his arms.

He let out what sounded to him like a small sob of pain as he was picked up. He tried to curl into himself, only to have hands gently pull around his body. He heard soft, smooth words, and felt movement, the feeling of being carried. After a while, he felt someone putting him in a bed, and opened his eyes.

Above him was Jason, staring down at him with a weak smile. It looked fake, but he really didn't have the energy to ask what was wrong. He closed his eyes slowly as Jason murmured something, but only caught one part before he passed out:

" _He said your eyes wouldn't turn green…"_

 __

 _ **Did I do okay? Leave a comment on what you think was okay and what you think could be improved; this is only my first story, so go ahead!**  
_


	9. Waking and Sleep

Jason sat at Dick's side the time he was asleep, sometimes reading to him, sometimes just watching him as he slept peacefully. He rarely slept more than a few hours at a time, making sure he checked on Dick as often as possible.

After 3 days of watching and waiting for Dick by his side, Jason's patience finally paid off. Jason heard a groan of pain and rushed to the side of the bed; he tentatively slipped his hand into his partner's.

"Dickie? Please say you're waking up…" he held his breath as Dick's eyes slowly cracked open.

"Jaysnn?" he slurred, looking at the blurry figure above him. He slowly tried to sit up before realising that his body hurt _everywhere_. "Ow…"

"Yeah, Ra's said you'd feel like you'd gone 10 rounds with Bruce after partying with Harley's hammer." Jason whispered, smiling when Dick huffed out a laugh.

He opened his eyes and focussed on Jason "Water?" he asked, draining the glass as Jason pushed a straw into his mouth. "What happened? I remember… green… not much else."

Jason ran a hand through his bangs and took in a shaky breath, "you passed out from the waters overloading your system and strain put on your body. I unstrapped you from the machine when it was shut off; took you back here after Ra's' doctors checked you over. He said there would be no lasting damage… but..." he trailed off, avoiding looking at Dick.

"What Jay?" Dick asked softly, "You gotta tell me, please, what's wrong? What… what's wrong with me?"

Jason jolted from where he was sitting, taking both of his Boyfriend's hands in his; "there is _nothing_ when with you Dick. Nothing. I-if you really want to see, c-come with me."

Dick slowly moved to the end of the bed and slung an arm around Jason. He was nervous of what it was, Jason _never_ beat around the bush; he was always the sort of person to say exactly what was wrong.

They moved to their bathroom and Dick steadied himself on the sink, looking at himself in the mirror. What he saw made him stare.

His _eyes_. It was like… someone had taken a piece of blue glass, broken it into shards, and replaced some of the shards with green glass. That's what his eyes looked like. Dick shared into his own eyes, trying to get his head around the fact that his bright blue eyes looked like they had been shattered into a different colour. Dick looked at Jason, who was pale.

"Why can't my life be normal?" Dick said with a smile. Jason barked a laugh and smiled back at Dick.

"Normal is boring Dickie; but we do need to do a less-than-normal thing now and meet with the Demon's Head. Ra's said he wanted to see you when you finally woke up. You err, need to change clothes before seeing him."

Dick sighed and let Jason help him change out of his soft sleep wear to a padded black suit. Just as they were about to open the door, Dick stopped and turned around, picking up his knife from Jason and strapping it tightly to his left leg.

With his arm over Jason's shoulder, the pair moved down the corridor, towards the rooms that Ra's had asked for them in. When they got there, Dick sank into one of the plush brown couches, pulling his boyfriend with him. They shared a number of kisses before Jason pulled away.

"You had me worried for a while there Dickie-bird; I didn't want to have to go home to Bruce to tell him that his Golden boy had died while I watched; that did _not_ stand right with me. I don't know what I'd do if you really did die."

Dick regarded him with his fragmented eyes "you would carry on, like anyone would. You would still be the Red Hood; the world would still be turning. You would get through your life, with me watching you always."

Jason blinked and pulled Dick close, being careful to mind the acrobat's sore body.

When he pulled back, the two studied the room they were in. It was a comfy meeting room, with a fluffy maroon carpet and dark red walls. The lighting was minimal and there weren't too many chairs in the room around an oval-shaped table; it was something that Bruce should invest in. He would probably hate it on the outside when telling everyone but find it rather cute in his mind.

Dick frowned when he heard what sounded like metal scraping against metal; all around them.

"Jay, do you hear tha-" before he could finish his sentence, 2-meter-tall robots tore through the walls on all sides.

He closed his eyes for a split second before leaping to his feet and pressing his back against Jason's back.

"Yes. I do hear the robots 'Wing. They appear to be in front of us." Came Jason's voice, drowned in sarcasm.

"Ha ha. Very funny. You got a weapon?"

Jason nodded, pulling out a pair of silver daggers from… god knows where. The grey robots closed in on them at speed once they were in position, circling the two men. Dick quickly pulled out his knife and, ignoring his aching _everywhere_ , he began fighting off their attackers. The fight was going alright, Jason taking out robots in violent tearing fashion, while Dick moved around them like _water_ with his acrobatics, striking them with perfect precision. That is until Jason got a hard metal cane across the shoulder. One of the robots had managed to catch his across the side of his shoulder, hard. He yelled out in pain and slumped against the ripped couch. Dick heard his cry and turned around, taking in the scene; Jason on the floor and the robots were moving in _fast._ He felt rage tunnel through him, and before he knew what he was doing, he had thrust out his arms as if to push the robots away, and a huge shockwave pulsed forwards. Silence fell, and a green shade covered the remains of the room as Dick panted, trying to regain his breath. Ignoring his own body, he fell to his knees next to Jason.

"Are you okay Jay?"

Jason stared at him in shock. He lifted his good arm to the side of Dick's face with wide eyes.

"Your eyes are green Dick! What the fuck happened? I saw everything go flying away from me… wait. That was you?" Jason stared at him, his voice going soft towards the end.

"I-I didn't mean to Jay… I really didn't mean to! I couldn't control it. I just got so angry when they hurt you…"

Jason watched as Dick turned away, shaking. He pulled him closer, held him close. Dick's head fell against his chest.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay…" he soothed. Dick sighed in relief.

"I'm tired Jayjay… can I sleep?" Dick asked blinking at Jason, his green eyes fading to their fragmented state. Jason nodded slowly, and Dick let out a sigh as he fell asleep.

Not 4 minutes later, Ra's turned up, along with a team of assassins.

"What-what _happened_ here? I was informed that Grayson had woken up and I was on my way to meet you, only to find out you were _attacked_! In the chambers of al Ghul no less. Those who are responsible for this will be punished."

He looked at the damage, and then at the two men. He raised an eyebrow at Jason, seeing the 3-meter circle around him of no robots.

"I believe the Pit gave Dick some… advancements? He got angry when I was knocked over, and… _this_ happened, along with his eyes changing from fragmented to green."

Ra's frowned. He turned to his assassins. "Take these two to my personal chambers. Have them checked over and fed before I get back. I will be there after I have checked over a few things."

He walked out of the destroyed room quickly, and the orders given to the other assassins were carried out immediately.

Jason kept his eyes focussed on Dick as his shoulder was treated. After less than 15 minutes of treatment, the assassins left in silence, and Jason sat next to Dick, tugging him close. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep with one thought on his mind. If Ra's hadn't sent those robots to test them, then _who had_?


	10. Anger, Floating and Falling

**In the Batcave, 9 days ago**

The jet landed smoothly in the Batcave, the engines shut off with little fuss and thee platform clicked into place quietly. The first thing that Bruce saw was Alfred's relieved but concerned face as he rounded the corner; it was obvious the faithful butler hadn't done much more than wait for someone to return home anise Dick had left.

"Master Bruce… are you and the young masters… alright?" the words sounded tentative, as if he was afraid to know the answer. Bruce looked at Tim and Damian, who both looked physically and mentally worn out.

He closed his eyes and took in a shaky breath. "Tim, Damian, try… and get some sleep. Come and see me if you need anything, okay?" after seeing their nods, he moved towards his computer chair and sunk into the cushion, putting his head into his hands. "They're still there Alfred. I couldn't do anything except walk away from Dick and Jason. I left them Alfred; I can do nothing about it but hope he can take it."

Alfred let out a breath, "would you mind telling me what Ra's al Ghul wanted from Master Dick? And why Master Jason is currently not here?"

Bruce looked at Alfred and began to explain. He explained about the Host of the Lazarus Pit, about Baqir Hamawi and finished with Jason's decision to stay with Dick. He shook his head. "I don't understand why… they are in a relationship together. I didn't think they were that close, but the way Jason talked to Dick; it was like they had been together for a while."

Alfred nodded. "I did not know for sure until this morning. Master Dick had spoken in a panicked way when asking about Jason talking to Ra's. I realised that some of his behaviour and actions would make sense if the two of them were together."

Bruce nodded slowly, then frowned; "when Jason was taken with Ra's? When did he do that when you were around? And why wasn't I informed?"

"He… he was talking with Ra's al Ghul one day in the cave. He was rather distressed as he was talking." Alfred looked nervous and slightly ashamed. He showed Bruce the video footage of Jason from the camera. "Master Dick went to speak to the man in the bar a few nights ago to ask about the information and came back with information on a contract. Master Bruce, do you think the young masters are in true danger?"

Bruce looked at the old man with sad eyes. "I don't know Alfred; I really don't know." He got out of his chair and followed the butler upstairs.

He passed Damian's room first; the bed was untouched. Frowning, Bruce made his way to Tim's room. He wasn't there either. Where were they? He walked down the hallway. Dick's room. Or, Dick and Jason's room. There, curled in the middle of the bed were his youngest sons. He smiled sadly at the prospect of his youngest seeking comfort in each other while his eldest were gone.

 **Now**

A hysterical laugh echoed off the walls of the warehouse, making Tim shiver. He waved a signal to Robin, who was perched on the rafters.

The two of them needed to get the hostages out _yesterday_. The Joker hadn't taken long in breaking out Arkham, then had kidnapped a bunch of rich Gothamites. Thankfully, Bruce Wayne hadn't been at the event; he had been in a late meeting with Lex Luther. Fun. But, it had saved him from being taken by the Joker. As soon as the meeting was over, he had made his way to meet Tim and Damian to take him down.

Tim crept forward making his way to one of the ladies. He put his finger to his lips when she noticed him; she nodded taking in slower breaths as she tried to calm herself. Robin moved opposite him, and they began to untie the hostages as quickly as possible. As the tight ropes came free, Red Robin directed them towards a gap in the wall where they could climb through drawing minimal attention to themselves.

As soon as the civilians were out of the way, the two went back to help Batman, who was fighting hand to hand with the Joker.

"HAHAHAHAHHA BATSY! You seem to have lost two birds… Are they dead? HAHAHAHA it's a shame I didn't get to them first!"

Tim could see the anger flowing off Batman. He ran at the Joker, avoiding any henchmen that got in his way. He vaulted off the wall and twisted his leg so that it struck the laughing man hard. He landed smoothly and ducked another man's punch.

Later, as they got back to the cave, Bruce turned to him. "Thank you, Tim, for taking out the Joker earlier. If he had said anything else… I'm not sure what I may have done."

Tim smiled slightly. "You are better at hiding how much you're missing them than I am, but that doesn't mean I don't notice it Bruce." Bruce looked stricken. He pulled Tim close and let go after a moment.

"Get some sleep Tim. Don't think I don't know how late you normally stay up at night."

 **With Ra's al Ghul**

He studied the metal from the robots carefully. They were intricately made; difficult to buy. He clenched his jaw in annoyance. Who had attacked his… guests? Who _dared_?

"Sir? I have sound something of importance."

Ra's moved over to where the mechanic was and growled loudly. On the side of the piece of metal were roughly carved words: _'Vandal Savage'._

Why him?

He swung around. "Get this all cleaned up." He ordered. He strode down the corridor and entered his chambers. When the door swung open, both Richard and Jason sat up in one movement.

"It seems that someone else wants their hands on you Grayson." He said, cocking his head to the side.

Richard regarded him with unnerving eyes, "Who?"

Ra's threw him the piece of metal, and the two of them studied it before Richard sighed. "Of course. I swear. I can never get a break."

Jason snorted and looked at Ra's.

"Any other side effects or advancements that the previous Host had that we should know about? You said Dick's eyes wouldn't turn green... and… you were kind of wrong about that."

"I do not know of any more… advancements, but with the Pit not having a Host for so long, it could have unforeseen problems and difficulties."

"Woah… like this?"

They both looked at Dick and shot out of their seats. He was floating off the couch he was on, shadowy green tendrils coming from him. His eyes were glowing green, too bright to be considered normal. He clutched his head and, still floating, bent his knees so that his feet were touching his behind. He let out a loud groan of pain and the room shook slightly.

Jason steadied himself against the wall just as Dick let out a louder cry that knocked over the table in the middle of the room with the shaking. "Dick! Get a grip! You're going to bury us if you can't control it!"

Ra's agreed but didn't say anything. Dick gripped his hair. "I need the Lazarus Waters! Get me to the Pit!" he let out a howl and writhed mid-air.

Jason grabbed Dick and pulled him along as Ra's let them down into the Pit. Just as Jason about the climb down the steps with his Boyfriend in his arms, Dick screamed. The cavern shook violently and Dick fell out of Jason's arms, falling into the green waters along with the rocks. Ra's realised that they would be buried if they didn't move. He pulled Jason out of the way, before slamming the door closed.

"Noooooo! Dick! Dick was till in there! He fell into the Lazarus Pit! We've got to go back!"

But Ra's shook his head. "We cannot go in there. We must hope that… that Richard survives."


	11. Misbehaving and Consequences

Dick felt like he was floating. He was surrounded by… water… and it felt _amazing!_ He would have thought he was dreaming, except for the fact that his fingers were touching something that felt like rock.

He moved his fingers slightly and frowned when he realised that it _was_ rock. The second realisation was that his eyes were closed and that he _was_ underwater.

The final, and probably most concerning realisation, was that he was breathing. Underwater.

Dick opened his eyes and saw… clear water? That… was not what he was expecting from the Lazarus Pit. Wasn't it green?

He twisted around so that his stomach was facing the ground and looked around him. He knew he was underwater, and that there were rocks around him, but not much else. He took in a breath (?) and swam forwards, to investigate his surroundings. After looking at the rocks, he began to swim upwards. Was Jason looking for him? How long had he been… underwater? He broke the surface and looked around. He seemed to still be in the cavern, but the part of the wall had collapsed, along with making the Pit overflow from where it previously sat. The waters lapped at his feet as he walked towards the area they came in.

Dick cocked his head and looked at the waters. The breathing underwater was definitely new. He could also see clearly when he was under there; he wondered what else would be new about him.

He shook his head; he could think about that later, now he needed to get out of the cavern. Dick made his way towards the large pile of rocks surrounding the exit and began to pull and push them away. After about 30 minutes of work he growled in frustration; he was getting nowhere!

"Okay Grayson, think. How could I move them?"

As he thought, he remembered how green tendrils had curled off him earlier- could he use those to his advantage? There had to be a way to harness the power he had received form the Pit now, right? He took a step back and put his hands out; he imagined the power flowing through him like it did earlier…

He blocked out the rocks around him…

He blocked out the sound of the waters against his ankles…

He took in a breath…

And let the power in.

But when he opened his eyes, there wasn't anything surrounding him.

"What?" he murmured to himself, stretching out his arms. "What's different? Why is it not here?"

After trying to harness the power for nearly 15 minutes, he ground his teeth together in frustration and clenched his fists.

"What's wrong now?" he roared, sending his fists flying into the wall next to him. As he opened his eyes, he knew something was different. A green glow of his eyes had washed the dark wall, and Dick stumbled back.

He looked towards the rock and grinned; he stuck out his arms towards the rocks and green shadow-ribbons unravelled, spiralling towards the rock and lifting them effortlessly. The shadows tossed the rock across the room quicker and quicker as Dick got more controlled in his movements. He didn't feel himself being lifted away from the waters at his ankles, and he wasn't aware of the glow of his eyes getting brighter and brighter, until he heard a yell.

"Dick!"

He turned at the call, momentarily losing control of the Ribbons. The rocks in the air fell and Dick twisted to catch them before they hit anyone. He turned around and smiled gently at his boyfriend as he pushed through smaller rocks of the collapsed wall.

"Jay?"

Jason slowed down as he approached the floating figure; he looked slightly nervous, but his movements were confident.

"Dick… you okay? I can see you've figured somethings out?"

Dick smiled and dropped to the floor with a jolt. "Woah," Jason rushed to catch him, and the two men embraced, Jason sighing in relief.

"I thought you were gone forever Dickie, it didn't look good when you collapsed the walls." Dick smiled wider and slipped his hand into Jason's. He looked up as someone coughed.

Ra's al Ghul stood with one eyebrow raised, looking around. "You had some fun here then Grayson? Figure out your… power?"

Dick nodded slowly. "The Pit… is fuelled by anger, frustration. I got frustrated when I couldn't lift the rocks and… well you know what happened then."

"Hmmm, okay then. It seems like we need to move quicker than I anticipated. The Pit is accepting you. We will need to give you weekly injections to keep your connection with the Pit, and now we shall start training. You need to be able to use the Pit's power to your advantage. You got that?"

Dick squeezed Jason's hand and nodded at Ra's.

The Demon's Head looked at Jason and smirked. "You will be training with some of the League members here when Richard is training with me. We can't have your talents going to waste can we?"

Jason swallowed hard, he could hear the treat on Ra's' tone, and nodded hesitantly.

"Good! I suggest rest for the both of you. And boys, do not go anywhere for now. We have reason to believe that there are people watching the island." And with that he walked out; leaving Dick and Jason in the cavern.

Back in their suite, Dick sat down next to Jason and told him about breathing underwater.

"Woah Dick. That's… not what I was expecting to be honest."

"Me neither Jay! It was like taking a bath… before realising I was underwater and I was in the Lazarus Pit."

They sat in silence for a while.

Jason suddenly grinned at Dick. "You want to go exploring? I don't know about you, but I need to see the sky!"

Dick grinned back at him, and the two began to venture slowly from their room, avoiding prying eyes in the corridors. They ran from door frame to door frame, using the skills taught to them by the Bat to slip around undetected

They finally exited the cave mouth, and ran through the woods, crashing through the undergrowth as they raced to the edge of the island to see the sea.

After a few minutes of sprinting, they reached the edge of the island, in a small cove, giggling like school girls as they sat on the edge of the sea. They sat for hours on the beach, sitting in silence and talking about everything and nothing.

They sat until the sun began to rise, until their lips were swollen from bites and kisses, until they fell asleep on the beach in the cove. Until they couldn't hear the steps coming behind them.

They woke up when the sun began to shine on their eyes. Hearing footsteps, Jason span around to see a blurry figure approaching. He flicked his hands up, and he felt as dart embed into his neck.

He reached out to the figure as his eyesight blurred further. He fell hard against the sand.


	12. Fear Gas and Decisions

**With Dick**

Dick woke to the feeling of heaviness that suggested he had been drugged; he shifted his arms and yep- he was not just drugged but restrained as well. Great.

He tried to remember the last thing he had done.

Where had he been? On the island.

With whom? Jason.

Was his mask on, and untouched? Yes, thank God.

Then they had fallen asleep in the cove… even though Ra's had said that someone might be watching the island. Oh, they were stupid.

He shifted his arms again; they were chained above him, he was standing up, slumped. He couldn't feel any walls around him and his wrists were hurting from the chains. Dick began to work his fingers slowly; not fast enough to be noticed by a normal person, but fast enough to get a good feeling of the chains. He kept his head down, feigning unconsciousness, until he felt a shift in the air.

Dick froze; he hadn't even heard anyone breathing!

"You can stop pretending, Nightwing. I know you're awake." The voice of Vandal Savage drawled, sounding highly amused. Too confident with himself; Dick was already panicking internally.

Externally, he opened his eyes and straightened up, narrowing his eyes at the figure in front of him.

"Hi; what is it that you want Savage?" Wow. Déjà vu? He felt like he had had this conversation already. O wait! He had! With Ra's. What fun.

Savage let out a low chuckle that made Dick uneasy. "Did you know that I knew a man named Baqir Hamawi? You may have heard of him."

Did swallowed but didn't say anything.

"When I knew him, he told me that I shouldn't know the secrets of the Lazarus Pits, because I could abuse that power and knowledge if I knew. This angered me, as I pride myself on gaining knowledge over the years on all things. But before I could get my answers, Hamawi _died_. How rude. I could not ask Ra's al Ghul, because I knew he would not give away the secrets - so I went for the next best thing. The new Host of the Pit."

Dick stared at the immortal, pale faced. He took a breath in and shook his head, "how did you know a new host had been… chosen? That I was the host? And also, what do you expect to get out of me?"

Savage nodded and began to walk around Dick, who twisted to see him. "I have been keeping my eye on a Lazarus Pit over the years, and recently, I noticed a disturbance in the waters. For knowing you were the new Host, I knew Ra's had taken certain members of the 'Bat Family', and it doesn't take a genius to know why he didn't send anyone out to get you. As for what I want… I want your power. I want you to either give me your power, show me how you got your power, or work for me."

Dick laughed. He gripped the chains hard and growled at Savage. "Never. I won't do any of those- I won't betray my family."

Savage smiled evilly. "I did hope that you would see reason Nightwing- but so be it."

He walked out of the room, the door shutting with a bang. Dick sighed and shifted in the chains, testing the leeway. There was no give at _all_. He pulled slightly from the ceiling before noticing small holes in the roof- and the walls for that matter. The next thing he noticed was a hissing sound _… from out of the small holes!_

He jerked away as he smelled something sweet in the air _\- fear gas…_ oh god.

"No no no no no…" he murmured to himself, as his eyes became heavy.

He heard something crackle from the speakers "this particular strain of fear gas sends you off to a nightmarish land; unless you want to give, me your secrets, Nightwing?"

Dick shook his head. He finally fell asleep.

It wasn't long before he started screaming, and once the screaming started, they only grew louder.

 **With Jason**

Jason woke with a groan, head pounding. Not remembering the night before, he felt himself restrained, on his feet.

"What the fuck is going on?" he murmured to himself, shaking his head to get rid of the grogginess.

"Red Hood… without his helmet. How do you do?" a deep voice cut through the quiet room, making him jump internally.

"Yo, Savage," he said with a growl, "can you let me go? I promise I won't _completely_ mangle your immortal body when I'm out."

Vandal Savage laughed. He came into Jason's view, who kicked out at him. Savage only just avoided his foot, an infuriating grin pressed on his face. "I would be more worried about your boyfriend, Hood."

All of Jason's thoughts went out of his head and he pulled hard on his chains.

"Where is he, what have you done to him? Tell me Savage!" Jason yelled, jerking in his chains.

Savage nodded. "You woke up after him. He… is otherwise preoccupied at the moment." He turned his gaze to a monitor in the corner of the room which Jason hadn't seen before. Savage turned on the screen and what he saw made Jason weak at the knees.

It was Dick. His screams filled the room, his wrists red and bleeding from how hard he was pulling at them. He was yelling random Romani words in the mix, like 'help', 'please' and 'don't leave'. It made Jason's heart ache.

Dick had tears on his face, trailing from under his mask as he cried at the unseen horrors in his head.

"Stop…" Jason said, pulling back on his chains and closing his eyes. "Stop!"

Savage shut off the video and Jason looked at him with clenched fists. "What. Do you. _Want_?"

"I have always wanted power Hood. Power and knowledge. You are here as an extra. Someone to use as leverage against the Bat? Definitely. Until I realised that you and Nightwing are very close. You are someone who he trusts with good decisions? At the moment, Nightwing is making it very difficult for us to get information on the Pit, and we have had to use fear gas to try and get him to give us some of his secrets. But you don't want him to suffer, do you? Tell him to give us what we want. He might listen to you. Or don't, and let him endure much worse than fear gas."

Savage twisted a sharp knife in his hand and placed it under Jason's chin.

"He will listen to you… or I shall cut your boyfriend open while I make sure you watch. It will be your fault."

Jason closed his eyes and thought about what Dick would say to him: _"It's our job, Little Wing… We might not like it, but we do it for the people who can't help themselves. Selfless acts that make people's day. It may hurt us, but if we give things away, if the bad guys win, then what has it all been for?"_

He opened his eyes at Savage. "He wouldn't want me to make his decisions for him. I wholeheartedly believe in Nightwing. I trust him; and he knows how to take a hit. He _also_ knows who is right to have the information that you're asking for, and fuck knows that you shouldn't have it."

Savage snarled and strode out the room. "You will regret that Hood." He growled.

The door slammed, and Jason bit his lip, trying to believe that what he'd done was right.


	13. Vandal Savage

Dick glared at Savage through his hair, breathing heavily through his nose. The tape plastered over his mouth prevented him from spitting at the man, but he could do the next best thing.

Savage tutted at the glaring figure, placing his knife under Dick's chin. Dick pulled on his chains but Savage yanked him back; it wasn't like he was expecting to get anywhere anyway.

After the fear gas, Savage had put Dick under various 'punishments' for not agreeing to give up anything about the Pits and after 19 days, he was beginning crack.

His leg was broken in two places and he had a silver knife in his thigh; he had 4 broken ribs and many, _many_ bruises from sessions with a wooden bat and a crowbar. Dick was moved so he was no longer hanging from the ceiling, but chained to the wall, standing up. His wrist had been broken for a _third time_ and his jaw sported black and blue bruises from angry punches.

Now though, Savage placed the knife against his shoulder. As it pushed against his suit, Dick began to wince from the pressure. The knife broke through the thick material and Savage pressed it agonisingly slowly into Dick's shoulder. He pressed and pressed and pressed until Dick was breathing heavily, eyes screwed shut against the pain. The knife pulled away and Dick opened his eyes- for it to be stabbed deep into the muscle in his shoulder. He gave a loud muffled scream as arched his back off the wall before falling back.

"I'm not sure I will have to ask, but do you feel like giving me some secrets yet Nightwing?" Savage asked, bending over so his eyes were in line with Dick's dropped head.

Dick's nostrils flared as he fought for breath; he stared unblinkingly at Savage, who sighed.

"Fine. Suit yourself." He walked out, slamming the heavy door behind him. Dick let out a soft whimper and let his head fall back against the wall.

He was tired.

Life could never be simple could it? First it was the kidnapping, then Ra's, then the Pit, now Savage. If he was being completely honest, he wanted to get control of the power he received from the Pit, because that would be rather helpful right about now.

The monitor flickered to life in front of him and Dick straightened up; they would be watching his reaction tot whatever they were showing him. This time it was Jason. He didn't look to bad-he had what looked like a bloody cut on his arm, as well as a dislocated shoulder. How _dare_ he? It was one thing to hurt him to get secrets, but it was another to hurt his family, his _boyfriend_ to get secrets.

Savage walked into the room. "Your boyfriend still isn't breaking Red Hood. He is rather persistent."

Jason growled at Savage but didn't say anything. Savage raised an eyebrow; "not chatty today? Alright then," he took out a knife, identical to the one in Dick's shoulder, "how about I pretty up your face, eh? Make you look nice for Nightwing?"

Dick could feel his anger growing, especially when he saw fear flash across Jason's face for a second before it disappeared. "I'm not sure that Nightwing would care too much." Jason drawled, his voiced not even wavering for a second. Savage smiled.

"But you would, wouldn't you?"

He moved forwards with the dagger in his hand towards Jason's face and Jason flinched, turning away. Dick didn't notice how his fists were closing around the chains, his knuckles going white from the strain. He didn't notice how his breathing was getting heavier. But what he did notice was that the light above him had begun to shake.

He focussed to the light, gritting his teeth behind the tape as he pulled and tugged at his Lazarus connection. It wasn't as strong as it was a few weeks ago, but it was enough.

Blood roared in his ears and he watched as Savage stumbled, steadying himself on a wall.

' _More,'_ Dick thought as he made the ground shake stronger. He pulled himself up with strength he didn't have, and his hands dropped. He looked at the chains in surprise but didn't see anything. Dick pulled away the tape from his mouth and realised there was ash on his hands; he had _disintegrated the chains?_

It didn't matter. He needed to get to Jason. But as he took a step forwards his leg crumpled. _Right_. Broken leg. Dick pulled himself towards to door and pressed his hand on the lock of the door, concentrating. It crumbled under his touch and swung open.

Dick heard shout from down the corridor and pushed his hands out; the Ribbons uncurled from his hands and wrapped around the men tightly and the men screamed in terror. Dick picked up a metal staff from the ground and lent on it- this would do for a crutch- and hobbled down the corridor, ignoring the muffled yells for help from the men behind his that were wrapped in shadows.

He dropped one of the men and wrapped his hand around his neck.

"Where is Red Hood?" he growled, sounded exactly like Batman.

"Like I would tell you, Bat filth!" the man yelled, but Nightwing could tell he was only just holding it together. He bared his teeth in a smirk.

"Fine then. Have fun in hell…" the shadows wrapped slowly around the man, trapping his ankles together, then his wrists to his body. The ribbons slowly made their way up to his neck before he began to yell out in fear.

"Okay! Okay! He's not far- just around that corner! I swear it! Please!" Dick dropped him and punched his hard in the cheek, knocking him out.

He made his way around the corner and came face to face with Vandal Savage.

Dick growled and lent on his 'crutch' heavily- he didn't have long; his connection with the Pit was running out and he needed to get himself and Jason some help _yesterday_.

"Move Savage. I won't ask twice."

But Vandal Savage just laughed and ran at him with his dagger. Oh! That reminded him. He still had a dagger in his shoulder! At this spark in his memory, Dick yanked out the dagger and, ignoring the pain, swiped the metal staff as Savage's feet and thrust the dagger forwards. Savage jumped, knocked Dick's weapon out of his hand and send his dagger into Dick's other shoulder. It didn't go in particularly far because of his suit, but _ow_!

Dick let out a yell of anger and the shadow Ribbons shot out of his hands and wrapped around Savage; he clenched his fists and the ribbons went tighter. Dick tightened until it was physically difficult to tighten anymore, and he dropped the unconscious and barely breathing man onto the floor.

Dick stumbled into Jason's cell with the staff still clutched in his hand.

"Nightwing! What happened to you!" Jason looked horrified as he searched Dick's body, looking at all the cuts and breaks that Dick had.

"Come on Little Wing," Dick said as he undid the chains around Jason's wrists, "let's get out of here."

They made their way out of the compound and each time they came up against someone, Dick used his Ribbons to wrap around them to knock them out. By the time they were out, Jason had taken almost all of Dick's weight; it was obvious Dick wouldn't last much longer.

They made it to a control room where Jason stole some of the machinery to make a communicator.

He dragged Dick outside, lay him down on the floor and began to put together a communicator. But as he was messing with the wires, he felt a hand on his leg.

"Dick?" he asked, taking Dick's hand in his.

"Jason?" his voice was almost a whisper, and he had blood on his lips. "Don't think I'm gonna-gonna make it- Little Wing…"

Jason felt his world turn sideways.

"What? Oh god…" the wound on Dick's shoulder was bleeding sluggishly but constantly. Blood flecked on his lips and it looked like he was having trouble breathing.

"I love you Jayjay, alright? You know that don't you?"

Jason felt the ground shake, and this time it wasn't Dick. He felt tears prick in his eyes.

"No, please Dickie, please. You can't leave now… don't leave me! Please Dick, don't leave me…" his voiced cracked at the end as he held Dick close to him. He felt Dick smile.

"You've made me so happy Jaybird… I love you…" his voice faded out and he closed his eyes; a tear slipping out from underneath his mask.

Jason _sobbed_. "No! Dick PLEASE! DICK! NO! DICKIE DON'T LEAVE" he sobbed out, his body wracked with ugly sobs as he clutched Dick's body.

He felt the communicator shift off his lap and he cried and looked down at it in a daze.

He was originally going to call Bruce... but he knew who to call now. He fiddled with the buttons until Jason spoke into the communicator with a shaking voice

"Ra's…?"


	14. Meeting Death

The Demon's Head walked slowly through the corridor towards the meeting room. It had been 14 days since his… guests… had been taken. As they had been taken in the cove, no cameras had caught the intruders. He had been right to believe they were being watched but he could not blame the two men from wanting to go outside; with the stress that they had been under, it wasn't surprising that they wanted some time for themselves.

His meeting was with Vandal Savage; he had a shaky truce with the immortal; they exchanged information from time to time but otherwise didn't associate, which was why him calling this meeting was odd.

He entered the large meeting room with two of his trusted bodyguards, facing Savage who was seated alone. He stood as Ra's entered and nodded his head in greeting.

"Why did you call this meeting Savage?" Ra's said, taking a seat at the head of the table.

"I called this meeting to ask for soldiers. Weapons, if you will. I am in need of well trained assassins to help me in an upcoming fight against the Justice League."

Ra's could have laughed and by the shifting in his guards, he knew they did too. "And why would I do that? I value my men and women in the League of Shadows. There is no reason for me to give you my people."

Savage smiled evilly and leant back on his chair. "Oh, but there is. Two reason actually." He slid an envelope across the long table and crossed his hands behind his back.

Ra's narrowed his eyes and opened the envelope in one swift motion. He had to stop himself from reacting outwardly but inside he was _seething_.

In the envelope were two photos; one was of Jason Todd with a bloody arm and the other was of Richard Grayson. Grayson looked like he had broken ribs and had probably just been beaten by a metal bar of some kind. He had a blue bruise on his jaw spreading up his cheek. Ra's looked at Savage as he placed the photos back.

"What would stop me from taking you prisoner and forcing you to tell me where Red Hood and Nightwing are?" he had a dangerous edge to his voice and he was leaning forwards.

But Savage didn't look concerned. "I have ordered some of my men to kill the prisoners if I don't return within a certain time."

Ra's curled his lip back "I will not give you any of my men. Understand? I do not wish for Red Hood and Nightwing to stay in your clutches but if it means the League of Shadows then so be it."

Savage growled in frustration and walked out of the room. Ra's placed his head in his hands and sighed.

"Sir? We must be going. We should not stay here for much longer."

Ra's nodded w=once and they got back on his jet, contemplating what to do next.

 **A few days later**

Ra's was getting very frustrated. His guests had been missing for nearly three weeks and he still had had no look in finding them or Savage. He knew Savage wouldn't kill them, just torture them for information. He hoped that the vigilantes' training meant that they hadn't given anything away, but he just didn't know.

He was dining in his quarters when a League member rushed in, his head bowed in apology. "Sir, we have received strange communication waves. The signal is transmitting straight to your personal communicator."

The Demon's Head rose quickly and waved the man to show him where he meant. The man lead him at speed down into their communications room and handed him a small communicator. The voice on the other side was quiet and jagged, like whoever it was had been crying or screaming. His eyes widened as he realised who it was.

" _Ra's…?"_

"Todd?" he exclaimed in disbelief; had they got out on their own? _How_?

" _Ra's! We-I need help… Dick… he…"_ he cut himself off, taking a deep shaky breath, " _he's dead Ra's… while we were escaping, a broken rib punctured his lung, and… I think he used up too much of his energy when we were trying to escape out of this hell hole… he's dead…"_

The man next to him approached. "I have a location Sir, he is in Rome."

He nodded. "Prepare a jet- and the Pit. Have medics on board just in case," the man took off, "Todd? We shall be there in… 2 hours and 32 minutes. Do _not_ fall asleep."

On the journey to Rome, Ra's thought about the implications of bringing Richard back to life in the Pit. _It may cause unseen side effects. It may drive him crazy._ He doubted it would drive him crazy though; if the Pit didn't like him, he would already be insane.

They set down about 400 meters from Todd, who picked up Dick's body with difficulty and approached. As he got closer, it was clear why Richard had not lasted. It was obvious that he had used the Pit to his advantage in their escape- he overtaxed himself- and that had killed in in the end, alongside his injuries, which looked quite severe in themselves.

Todd didn't look too bad, but his body language suggested he was fighting the need to mourn. He took Richard's body off Todd, and the medics sedated him as soon as he sat down. They treated his injuries on the way back.

Back on the island, Dick's body was placed on a wooden platform and lowered slowly into the water. Todd was standing next to him, wrapped in bandages and watching the waters.

At first nothing seemed to happen. Minutes passed slowly as Ra's studied the waters. Assassins surrounded them, their hands close on their weapons just in case.

At last, Ra's looked down, closing his eyes. "Pull him out. The least we can do is give him an honourable burial."

But as the men began to pull the chains up, Jason saw bubbles in the water. "Stop! I can see him!"

The men and women in the League peered at the waters. The bubbles stopped.

Then the Lazarus Pit exploded.


	15. Purpose from Ra's

For the second time in less than a month, Dick felt himself floating as he came to. But unlike the last time, he felt burning _rage_ inside of him. All rational thoughts were out of his mind in a second and he threw his arms into the air as he struggled to get topside of the water that he was in. The waters seemed to respond to his movement and moved in tandem with his arms; his feet landed on the floor of rock beneath him and he yelled out in anger.

He didn't recognise anyone around him and his sight was tinged with a green hue as water swirled around him in a tornado like fashion. He swung around to steady himself as the waters buffeted him from all sides. He pushed him arms forward in the direction of the people with their weapons drawn that were approaching him.

" _STAY AWAY!_ " he roared, watching as the people dove for cover from the waters. He covered his ears with his hands and sunk to his knees as he felt power inside him rebel against his control. Dick struggled to get whatever power it was under control while fighting the instinct to _kill everything_ around him in anger.

He squeezed his eyes shut and felt the power around him recede, the waters calming as they began to lap against his legs in a somewhat comforting fashion. He took deep breaths to calm the emotions threatening to take over him took his hands off his ears. He relaxed his shoulders and kept his eyes closed until his heard someone cut through the silence in wherever they were.

"Dick? C-can you hear me?"

Jason? Why did he sound so worried?

Dick slowly opened his eyes and turned to face Jay- who looked shocked. Next to him stood Ra's al Ghul looking… astonished? Why did they look so shaken?

Dick stumbled towards Jason and got out of the pool of water he was in; he finally realised what he had been in. Lazarus Water. That could only mean one thing. His knees buckled at his new information and Jason caught him as he fell.

"I died?" he murmured, "I don't… remember anything passed… escaping Vandal Savage."

"That's because you used too much energy getting us out of the compound," Jason whispered, clutching Dick tighter, "and you punctured a lung with a broken rib… I can't believe I lost you Dickie."

Dick wrapped his arms around Jason and held on as he regained his footing. Ra's led the two to his personal chambers, where Dick looked at him from his place in Jason's arms with his fragmented stare.

Ra's told the two about Savage's visit, the supposed 'fight against the Justice League' and his ideas for training.

"It is obvious you are getting more of a feel for being the Pit's Host- you are quite lucky that the Pit favours you enough to give you these gifts. They must be trained to perfection."

In return, Dick explained about what he had learnt about his new powers; about the disintegration of his chains and the power of the ribbons getting stronger.

When his story had finished, Ra's leaned back in his chair. He looked at Grayson and Todd.

"Get some sleep after you have eaten the meal in your room. From what you have been through, it looks like you could use some rest. I shall deliver some training rooms and times for the next few days as soon as possible."

"Thank you Ra's, I-we appreciate it."

Ra's nodded and the two left the room.

When they entered their suite, they ate their large meal and had a shower. Neither bothered with clothes as they climbed into their bed and curled together under the covers. The two vigilantes needed the skin-to-skin contact for reassurance that they were there.

Dick pressed his head into Jason's non-bandaged shoulder and took in a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry Jay… I needed to get you out." A hiccupped sob followed his words and Jason buried his face in Dick's hair.

"Just as long as you're here now Dickie," he whispered "as long as you're here now. Please… don't do that again… even if it means leaving me behind. Okay?"

But Dick shook his head. "I can't promise you that Little Wing; but I can promise that I will always do my best to get us both out, Lazarus Host and all."

He leant up and kissed Jason softly and the two fell asleep pressed up against each other.

Jason registered that something was wrong before he was fully awake. Call it a sixth sense if you will; he was awake in an instant, wincing as he jarred his injuries. He looked around and quickly registered that Dick was whimpering. He was thrashing back and forwards, clenching the sheets of the bed. Jason began to shake him awake.

"Hey, Dickie-bird- Dickie come on wake up!"

Dick let out a soft sob that made Jason's heart ache. "Noooooooo- JASON!"

Dick lashed out and Jason caught his wrists and pinned them to the bed in surprise. He began to shake Dick harder.

"DICK!"

He shot up, breathing heavily through his sobs, his eyes bright green. Dick's eyes fell on a concerned Jason, who let go of his wrists and hugged Dick until he stopped sobbing, and his eyes returned to their fragmented state.

 **30 Days Later**

The training had been difficult for Nightwing over that next four weeks; he also knew it had been difficult for Jason. Not just physically, but emotionally. The two spent nearly all day separate from each other and were so exhausted in the evenings that they almost always just passed out wrapped in each other's arms.

Today though, today was a day of rest. A day where the two could spend the day above ground on the beach together, not caring about anything but each other. The first few hours were spent telling each other of their training, Jason looked on in wonder as Dick showed Ribbons dancing in and out of his fingers, explaining how he was getting a handle on controlling his emotions when controlling the Pit.

Jason showed Dick what he had learnt from being taught by some of the League trainers. He giggled as Jay practised by lifting him into the air and throwing him into the waters.

As the day came to a close, Dick and Jason were summoned to Ra's.

The two walked to the large room that they had been guided to and stopped as they came in with dropped jaws.

Behind Ra's were two glass cases. Inside were uniforms that looked remarkably like the Nightwing and Red Hood suit. The Nightwing suit was much the same, except for the mask and trimmings. The normal domino mask had been scrapped, and a retractable black facemask covered the nose and mouth. The trimmings glowed a green colour in the light, blending in and out with the blue nicely as the costume turned in the case. The Red Hood suit was the same as normal but had a black leather jacket instead of brown.

"Oh… wow… Ra's- what?" Jason was speechless as he looked at the suits.

"This is for your missions. I cannot keep you here forever; you will take part in gathering some information in different parts of the world for me. I hope that these are good enough?" he sounded rather pleased with himself. Seeing the nods given, he slid a file across the table.

"Your mission is to gather intel on this man. He has been illegally entering a cave containing a Lazarus Pit in South Africa. I want him scared off at the very least; got it?"

Jason and Dick nodded as surety flowed through them; they had a _mission_. They had a job to do.

"The jet will be ready when you are. I want to you back within a week."

Ra's exited the room dramatically, leaving the two excited vigilantes with their new uniforms and a job to do.

 **Hiiiiii! I am really enjoying writing this story :) I am playing with the idea that Dick will use the gifts he got from the Pit to either form wings or have the ability to communicate with a predatory animal like a wolf or something. Pleeeaaaase give me some advice because I don't want to ruin the story.**


	16. They're All Yours

The jet rocketed through the sky over Africa. The passengers had been travelling for a little under 8 and a half hours to South Africa, to complete their mission. Their jet had been stocked for the journey, but the two inside the jet were itching for a little action. They had their new costumes in small duffel bags in a small luggage compartment above the couch in the middle of the jet, along with Jason's guns and knives and Ra's' choice of weapons for Dick… twin katanas. _'You must learn to use them Grayson,'_ he had said, _'they are mandatory, and much better than your escrima sticks. Stop complaining.'_ He _had_ stopped complaining but that isn't the point.

Anyway. Dick watched transfixed as South Africa passed beneath them quickly; Jason was next to him, reading an old copy of Macbeth he had found in their suite. A voice crackled over the intercom as the plane dipped.

"We are approaching out landing site. You may want to buckle in- I have been given instructions to be back on this site in five days and to stay of another two. You are lucky I have business in these parts; if you aren't here in seven days I will leave without you. Got it?"

"Yeah, we got it." Jason murmured as he bookmarked his book with a small piece of blue paper.

The plane touched down and Dick dragged Jason across to airport security with their joint suitcase and two duffel bags. They were taken aside by a man in a navy tux. He took their bags and sent them through the security checks. Dick held his breath as they passed through- he wasn't looking forward to trying to explain what they were doing with multiple guns, knives and katanas in their duffels. But another man just handed back their bags on the other side with a bored expression on his face.

Jason's eyes flicked to the side to the man in the blue tux. He gave Jason a subtle two-fingered salute; Jason nodded his thanks and the two walked out without another incident.

"Ready to start the mission Dickie?" Jason said, sliding a pair of shades on Dick's face, covering his fragmented eyes.

"Ready when you are Jaybird" Dick purred, sliding his hand into Jason's as he slung the duffel on his back.

They made their way to a free taxi at the side of the airport and told the driver to get them to Cape-Town as soon as possible. He looked unsure at first, but Dick handed him a roll of cash that changed his mind pretty quickly; they took off down the road as soon as their bags were in the boot of the car. When they reached the hotel, Dick dragged Jason to the table and spread the maps and game plan across it.

"Okay, I know you aren't going to like that I'm going straight into the mission, but we need to be sure on when we're going to find- this guy." He placed the guy's picture on the table. "So Jayjay, want to do a bit of breaking and entering tonight, see where this guy lives?" he had a wicked grin on his face and for a second Jason let his mind wander to what Dick might be doing now if Bruce hadn't found him.

"Do we have any ideas where he might be?" Jason asked, a smile marking his face as he watched Dick pour over the resources they had been given by the pilot of the plane.

"I have a few ideas. He must live relatively close to the Pit to visit it as regularly as he does at the moment. He looks well fed and clothed, so he's from an affluent background. I also ran some checks on his necklace; it's a family air loom from a well-known family here; the Mkhize's. We can go visit some of their houses tonight to see if we can find him, or at least get an idea of when he will next go to the Pit."

Jason stared at Dick in surprise "Damn, I thought that Tim was the strategist in our family!"

Dick blushed slightly. "It wasn't that difficult Jay, I just saw the right things…" he gestured helplessly at the pictures in front of him and Jason chuckled deeply.

Jason pulled Dick closer to him and pointed to the huge blue pool outside of the hotel. "How about we take a dip in there before we get started on any vigilante-ing?"

Dick laughed and buried his head in Jason's shoulder. The pool _did_ look nice…

 **A few hours later**

Nightwing and Red Hood moved like shadows across the tops of the buildings as they made their way towards The Mkhize's four houses near the centre of the city. The city itself at night was pretty, a little difficult to get around because of the lights, but pretty.

Nightwing felt his katanas on his back as he jumped. They were much lighter than he originally thought they would and were natural in his hands as he wielded them; so natural it was rather scary. He knew Hood was surprised when he got out the twin katanas instead of his escrima sticks; he didn't ask, and Dick was quite relieved he didn't. He wasn't sure why he had- he could have bought his escrimas instead but… he didn't… _want_ to. That thought had scared him more than anything.

They dropped onto a balcony facing a back-alley and Nightwing quickly got the doors to a Mkhize's study open- they needed to update security. Badly. There were no cameras inside and only a few locks on the 'hidden' safe.

The two laughed softly as they spread papers across the desk. They scanned over documents until Jason grunted in affirmation that he'd found something.

"What'd you find Little Wing?" Dick edged forward in a whisper.

"Apparently the guy we're looking for does live here; these are documents that suggest he is using the Lazarus Caves for hiding stolen goods. Oh! And a passport, just for proving that it's him."

Dick nodded slowly and pointed ran his hands over the paper. "It looks like he is meeting with… this guy… Wednesday night to split the stolen goods from the Cave. We can scare them off then and take the stolen goods to the police afterwards. "

"Hey," Jason said, sliding up against Dick, "that means we have an evening all to ourselves…" he gave a shark-like grin to Dick, who grinned back. They replaced the documents and headed back to their hotel after doing a long patrol of Cape-Town. There wasn't loads to do but the vigilantes just needed the freedom. They slid into the window of their hotel room at 4:30 am.

A couple of nights later, Jason suited up with Dick once again to scare the living daylight out of a nosy criminal.

They journeyed towards the Lazarus Caves and followed Mkhize, along with another two men, in. Nightwing slid the faceplate across his mouth and nose as Hood slipped on his helmet. He looked at Jason, raising his hands, and he nodded. Ribbons uncurled from Nightwing's hands and slid under Jason's feet to carry him through the cave undetected.

Hood was making the first move.

The three men made it into the centre of the cave before Jason landed with a thud on the floor in the dark cave. They spun around in fear, raising guns.

"Who's there? Show yourself! I won't hesitate to shoot you!" one of the men shouted, his voice shaking slightly.

Jason laughed darkly. "Neither will I. Do you know who I am?"

He moved forwards into the light- and the men took a step back. "Red Hood…" Mkhize whispered in fear. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on a mission with my partner- a mission to make sure you don't come back here."

The three men began to get more confident and squared off against Red Hood. "There's only two of them and three of us. Shoot him first!"

They began to shoot at Hood, but before the bullets could reach him, a dark shadow got in the way.

" _A bit rude, aren't you?"_ a teasing voice joked from above.

The men looked up in fear. Jason grinned behind his helmet. "All yours Wing; they're all yours."

The men looked up and screamed as the shadows descended on them.


	17. Bad News

Nightwing dropped from the ceiling with a dark laugh, ribbons cascading from his surroundings as they bonded with the darkness. He manipulated the ribbons so that they wrapped around the three men's feet, making them drop their weapons and scream with fear. It was easy for Nightwing to keep the ribbons tight around their ankles, even with all their struggling and yelling.

Mkhize yelled out as he felt the blood rush to his head as he was yanked upside down. "What do you want? We'll give the money back, I swear it! Please!" he thrashed from his position in fear.

Nightwing stood next to Red Hood, one hand still poised in front of him as Hood wrapped an arm around his waist. "Well now, I don't want to give it away so soon, do I?" he said, his fractured gaze flashing in the darkness, "that would be too _boring_!"

He shook the men slightly before dropping them on the floor; they quickly got up and tried to run but Nightwing was too quick. He placed a dome of ribbons around them, trapping them in. He slowly made the dome smaller until it was only just big enough for the three men inside, then released the dome, keeping a hold on their feet.

"I don't want to see you here again, you got it? These are dangerous places for bastards like you. If I find you have come back…" he took out his katanas from their holders and the men nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay, okay! Whatever you say!"

Dick let them go and they disappeared out of the cave. He grunted when Jason pulled him close for a hug. "What's this for?" he mumbled into Jay's shoulder.

"I think you channelled your inner Batman there Wing, it was so damn _sexy_ "

Dick snorted "Only you would find that sexy Little Wing. Come on-let's get back to the hotel."

The two of them made their way back to the hotel and undressed slowly, getting into bed and falling asleep. But it wasn't long before Jason was awake again, this time to the sound of soft whimpering.

He turned over and blearily looked around, his eyes settling on Dick. His eyes were glowing green and he was shaking on the other side of the room, slowly backing away from Jason.

"P-please Jay, I don't wanna hurt you," he breathed clenching his hands. "I can't even have a dream without the Pit effecting me…"

"Dream?" Jason said, "Or nightmare?" and with that Dick crumpled to the floor. Jason rushed over and rubbed circles on his back, carefully calming him until his eyes returned to normal. "It's okay Dickie," he whispered, burying his nose into Dick's hair, "you aren't the only one."

 **With Ra's**

The Demon's Head watched astonished as Grayson scared the living daylight out of the three men, using his gift from the Pit to do so… as well as the katanas. He was hoping for something good but- this was a _show_.

He laughed at the men as they scampered away from the cave, and Nightwing and Red Hood dropped the money off at the large police station.

He sat back in his chair, contemplating this new development. He had assumed that Nightwing might become slightly darker in nature because of the Pit, and this had proved the theory; he was also surprised that Nightwing hadn't inflicted any damage at all, just scared them off. Ra's kept thinking about this until his door was knocked.

"You may enter." He said turning his attention to the man in front of him. "Speak."

"Sir, we have received word from our spies that Vandal Savage has partially completed his mission. The information we got was told very rushed as the undercover agent had been discovered." He lowered his head slightly, "Savage got to him before we could send backup."

Ra's lowered his head in respect for the fallen man before looking up again. "What was the information received?"

The servant took a deep breath before locking eyes with Ra's.

"He had put forth a plan for a group of highly dangerous individuals to capture the Justice League and a few others, including Red Robin and Robin. He is apparently already in the first stages of his plan, but without anyone on the inside, it will be difficult to get large amounts of information on the plans."

Ra's slowly nodded. This was unfortunate. "Send for Nightwing and Red Hood. They will not take kindly to any information on their family being kept secret form them. Do we have any timings?"

The man nodded. "We should expect the attack on the Justice League within around 40 days. Maybe a month and a half if we're lucky." He bowed his head to Ra's and left the room.

Ra's growled low in his throat angrily. Why now? He thought back to what Grayson had said to him in training. _'Our lives can never be normal because normal is too boring for use to handle!'_ He had never had a normal life really; Grayson had been a rather good student really, a bit annoying, but overall quite good. He had sometimes even cracked a smile at Dick's _awful_ puns. They were bad.

 **A few days later**

"What do you need Ra's? I heard that you need us." Grayson walked slowly towards the Demon's Head with Jason, who looked uneasy.

Ra's explained what the servant had said about Savage; he watched as Grayson and Todd ingested what he had told them. They both went very pale before Todd marched forwards. "What do you want us to do? Sit and wait until they are captured? Shouldn't we warn them at least?!"

But Ra's shook his head. "I expect you to wait here; you may get captured by Savage if you are caught unawares and with him knowing some of what you are capable of, you may not be able to help your family. Do not go out of this bunker. That is an order that I will enforce violently if necessary. Got it?"

The vigilantes looked like they wanted to argue, but after Ra's shot them a sharp look, their arguments died on their tongues.

They would have to wait to help their family.


	18. Baranof Island

The next few days were spent trying to get their minds off Vandal Savage and the Justice League. Dick and Jason sought out comfort in each other as they worried more and more about what might happen to someone they knew; it became a constant threat in the back of their minds. They trained together and apart, against each other and against others.

After eight days of training, they were given the message that they would be moving bases; to an island off Alaska. Apparently, there was a hidden Lazarus Pit just off Baranof Island where they could train in more treacherous terrains and weathers to perfect survival tactics. So, jets were loaded up in secret and flown off the island. They were going to a part of Baranof Island that wasn't populated particularly much by people, to prevent information getting out.

When they got there, Dick was immediately hit by the temperature. It was _freezing cold._ He hadn't been expecting it to be warm but maybe warmer than this! He shivered softly and pressed into Jason.

They were led down into another cave and were rewarded with warmer corridors leading to their quarters. It had been an exhausting 18-hour flight and Dick's muscles were stiff and sore; he headed to where Ra's had told him the gym was. It was a fully stocked and _warm_ gym, filled with equipment for any type of work out. He did a run on the machines for 45 minutes before he was tapped on the back.

It was Jason, "You alright?" he said, his eyebrow raised. Dick grunted with a nod.

"Okay- you want to spar? I could do with a stress reliever." He smiled softly when Dick nodded.

"Hand to hand or…" Dick asked, rotating his wrists, letting the question hang in the air.

Jason thought for a second. "Hand to hand. I could use some practice just in case." They both knew he was joking.

Dick stretched his back until he felt a pop. "Let's go Jayjay"

Jason rushed him, but Dick ducked under the first punch, twisting and trying to catch Jason on the side of his ribs. Jason avoided the blow by jerking sharply to side. Dick grinned and feigned left before swiping his leg under Jason's to knock him over. He didn't fall but was unbalanced; Dick took advantage of this and struck him sharply on the lower back, knocking him onto his face. He pinched a nerve on the side of Jason's neck to paralyse him until he admitted defeat; he then placed his face in front of Jason's with a large grin to annoy him.

Jason tried to curse at him, but Dick placed a finger over his lips.

"Hush Little Wing. Ask me to let you out of this, or don't say anything at all." He was still grinning like a maniac.

Asshole.

Jason growled but still couldn't move. "Ugh… fine… please Dickie- let me go? There I said it."

Dick laughed and pinched the nerve again, allowing Jason to move; he was immediately pinned down by Jason, who kissed at his neck possessively. He would have started biting, but they heard what sounded like an explosion shake the floor.

Jason shot off Dick and they bolted down the corridor, Jason snatching his blades from the bench where he had left them and headed in the direction of the blast. They joined other assassins, supposedly from their own rooms, one of which offered Dick a pair of black-flecked blades. He shook his head as he ran.

"I'll be cover. Get in position to defend- we don't know who this is, they may have attacked with the sole intention of taking everyone out. Go!"

The assassins, and Jason, followed his order without question and Dick took to the rafters of the Hall they were in. Assassins crashed into battle with… robots? They looked like the robots that had attacked them before… Savage? Again? Dick shook his head. There was definitely a larger number of robots now than there had been when they had just attacked him and Jay, outnumbering the assassins around 25 to 1. There were _so many_!

Dick slid his facemask over his mouth and nose before sending out ribbons to the robots, wrapping around their middle's and squeezing them apart. He jumped into battle against the robots, keeping an eye on the assassins around him. He didn't know any of them personally, but a couple had a wicked sense of humour when it came to drinking alcohol; he doesn't think he had laughed more in his life over spilt alcohol…

Anyway. After a few minutes of fighting, Dick climbed back on the rafters and noticed something weird; some of the robots were in the middle of the battle, _not fighting_. They were circled around something… he needed a closer look.

He used the ribbons to slide closer to the robots circled around a black device. And _it was counting down._

"It's a bomb!" he yelled, scrambling away from the object towards the assassins, who looked at him for orders. "They're setting up a bomb in the centre of the Hall. Can you cover me while I try and defuse it?"

Seeing confident nods from the men and women around him he began to slide a shadow ribbon under the small team. They wobbled a little but got used to it as he raised them over the majority of the battle. They dropped about six metres from the bomb, making a circle around Nightwing as he tried to disarm the bomb as it slowly counted down.

4 minutes.

3 minutes 30 seconds.

3 minutes.

2 minutes 30 seconds.

2 minutes.

1 minute 30 seconds.

1 minute.

30 seconds.

He began to sweat as the numbers got dangerously close to zero. His gritted his teeth and cursed how Ra's hadn't sent all of the League of Shadows before they had got there. If the majority of the assassins had been there, they would have won this fight hands down, but most of them were still deployed on missions or on the way here.

He felt his fingers slip over the wires again as he cut the wire on the far left of the device… he wasn't going to be fast enough. The bomb was going to go off. Nightwing had one more idea.

He wove the ribbons around the bomb and pressed his palms down onto the machine, yelling for everyone to take cover. He counted down the numbers in his head as he squeezed his eyes closed tightly.

3…

2…

 _I'm sorry Little Wing_

1…

0…

He was tossed into the air violently as the blast went off and the last thing he saw before he passed out was the snow spiralling towards him as he approached the ground.

 **Jason's point of view**

The Red Hood woke up with a pounding headache. What had happened? His brain reminded him of the robot that had bashed him over the head so graciously during the battle. He felt rather embarrassed that that had knocked him out, instead of being knocked out by like, saving someone's life.

Ah well.

He shifted his position… that was weird… he could move. Not like he couldn't feel anything, because he could, just… it felt like he was restrained… Like he had been when he had been taken by Savage.

Fuck.

"Are you awake yet Hood?" Savage's annoying voice called out from next to him. Jason didn't jump, but he did look in that direction; he was blindfolded as well. That was perfect.

"Yes, I am asshole, can you let me out now?"

What? It was worth a shot to ask. Just in case.

The clicks echoed around the room and Jason fell to his knees. Wow. He hadn't been expecting them to listen to him!

But before Hood could do anything, two people took hold of his restrained arms and yanked him forwards, so that he was probably following Savage. As he was led (dragged) through the halls he heard the man start up again.

"I managed to get my hands on you after your boyfriend blew himself up trying to disarm the bomb I set up in Ra's' hall. Did you know that Hood?"

Jason's knees gave up on him at the news. Dick was dead? _Again_? Ra's may have allowed him to bring Dick back to life once, but he had said he wouldn't allow it again! Oh god…

His breath had gone shallow and he was glad of the blindfold to hide his tear-filled eyes from Savage. Hands grabbed at his arms and hauled him up roughly.

Jason let them drag him to wherever they were going, all strength he possessed gone. Grief hit his system heavily as Savage's news set in… Dick had blown up? Why was the universe so cruel? He had blown up... he didn't want Dick to have to suffer that fate...

But he had. Jason hadn't been fast enough.

Red Hood's head was yanked up by one of the men dragging him along as they entered what felt like a large room- airy, cold-ish, echoey. The atmosphere was frosty, tense. Indicated that there were quite a few people in the room.

His blindfold was yanked off sharply and his eyes adjusted to the room's light while blinking the tears away.

His breath closed in his throat.

Oh God.

He stared straight into the eyes of the Justice League.

 **I have got good ideas for the next couple of chapters! I'm leaning towards the idea of Dick being able to communicate with wolves. Mostly because he can already sort of fly with the Ribbons, and he is on an Island that does naturally inhabit wolves on it. What do you all think?**


	19. Saving the Wolf

Jason didn't feel the men on either side of him lock his arms into the chains in the cell that contained the Justice League. He stared blankly at the floor, his mind overloaded with information. He slumped against the wall as the men dropped him and watched the ground, his face emotionless.

He could feel people's eyes on his, but he couldn't bring himself to care. The bang of a door rang out as Savage left the room and Jason flinched at the sound; it was all too familiar to a month ago, when they were with Savage themselves.

"…Hood?"

Jason didn't reply. He was too wrapped up in his mind to respond.

"Hood!"

That was his replacement. Red Robin. Tim.

Jason slowly dragged his head up and focussed his eyes on Red Robin, who looked relieved that he had heard. While his head was up, Jason looked around and shifted in his chains; they didn't let him move a lot and he figured it was the same for everyone. Everyone was looking at him with a concerned and possibly disturbed eye, so he decided to ask a question first.

"How long you been done 'ere?" his voice was scratchy and thick with emotion; he was lucky that not many people had picked up on this. Except for the Bats in the room- they looked at him in alarm. Jason never even let out a bit of emotion if it wasn't anger.

"I got here first, with Wonder Woman. That was about five days ago." An exhausted sounding Superman told him; Jason looked at him and spotted the green giveaway of kryptonite on a black electrical collar. He nodded and looked around everyone had a form of collar on, even him. He studied Red Robin's which was the closest. It was a thick electrical thing that looked like they were remotely clipped on. Great.

"I got here a few hours after Supes, with GL. We had just finished a mission and Sinestro and Grodd caught us unawares while we were weak. Where- where have you and Nightwing been?"

That question made his breath catch in throat and tears well in his eyes. He squeezed his eyes closed to get rid of the tears threatening to escape. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, focussing on Batman.

"There is not a chance that I'm going to do loads of explanation here, with ears everywhere, but… he became what he was 'invited' to be." Jason gave a broken smile and a soft laugh "we went to South Africa together less than two weeks ago…"

He clenched his fists and looked down. Get it together.

"H-how long have you been here?" he asked, looking at Bruce, Tim and Damian.

"We've been here just over 24 hours… no one else except you has been bought in. Manhunter was bought in after Flash along with Aquaman about two days ago." Tim said quietly, studying Jason. He knew something was up. "Hood… where is Nightwing? Why wasn't he bought in with you?"

At this Jason let out a soft sob that told the League everything they didn't want to here, Batman looked at the floor, closing his eyes. Before anyone could ask how, a large screen, like the one Ra's used, flickered to life in front them. A voice crackled over the intercom and soldiers began to come in from all sides to line the cell that they had been trapped in.

"I can show you how he died! It looks rather painful!" Savage sounded _gleeful_ as he talked.

The battle in the Alaskan base flickered to life across the screen, not actually showing Dick too often as the picture was from the point of view of one of the robots. It only caught minimal amounts of sound that wasn't fighting. The smallest _'It's a bomb!'_ from Dick, then cutting to the explosion that took out the robot. Jason's heart shattered. Dick couldn't have survived that- the only way anyone could have survived was to be at the other end of the hall, where most of the League of Assassins members had moved to.

Bruce made a hurt sound in the back of his throat and Jason couldn't stop the tear making its way down his face. Flash made a choking sound and Damian inhaled sharply along with Tim.

Savage opened the door as the video shut off. He unlocked the cell and walked over to Jason, grabbing his chin and pulling it up. "Should have told me the secrets before, shouldn't you?" he leaned down so that he was in line with his ear, "this is your fault Hood."

Jason roughly pulled away as hard as he could, another tear falling down his cheek. Savage laughed loudly as he walked out of the cell.

"Make yourselves comfortable Justice League, you can have about two weeks before we record your deaths for the world to see!" the door slammed behind him.

The only sounds Jason could hear were his own soft sobs as he broke down.

 **Around a mile and a half from Ra' al Ghul's Alaskan Base**

"Mmmmm…" Dick felt himself come back into consciousness and his body registered the cold before anything. Deep, cutting cold that felt it was directly pressing onto his skin; he lifted himself up to find that it _was_ pressed against his skin- his back. Dick stood up and pain flared up his leg- it looked like a piece of metal had imbedded in his leg when the bomb had exploded.

The bomb!

 _Jason!_

As his head scrambled to catch up, he realised that his fingers were going blue- that was not good. He wasn't going to be any help if he didn't have any fingers to fight with.

He began to take stock of what he had. Most of his uniform, his facemask, his katanas, Jason's knife and… not much else. He spotted his gloves just a few metres away and picked them up.

He was surrounded by woods and snow- he needed a cave. Dick put of his gloves and slowly moved towards a mound of large grey rocks not too far away. When he got there, he could have _cried_ to see a small cave there. It was quite small, but big enough for him to make a fire. He had gathered little bits of wood and lit a tiny fire to keep him warm.

He kept the searching for logs to keep the fire going… until he heard it… whimpering. Like a… dog. He slowly put the wood in his arms in the cave and made his way towards the whimpering to see if he could help in any way. He walked around the mound of rocks, closer to the sounds.

As Dick got to the whimpering, he stopped and stared; the dog… was a wolf. That shouldn't be a bug surprise him as much as it did- he was in a place that naturally inhabited wolves- but _wow_. He hadn't expected to see one!

The wolf made a mixture between a whimper and a growl as he saw Dick, but Dick lifted his hands to signify he wasn't going to hurt him.

"Hey… it's okay… oh god… that looks nasty." He saw why the wolf was whimpering- it was stuck by its paw under a fallen rock.

It may have been just him being optimistic… but the wolf seemed to calm down. He approached carefully and took off his glove and offered his hand to the wolf; the wolf sniffed his hand hesitantly before rubbing his head against Dick's fingers. Wow. This was going well.

Dick slowly uncurled some ribbons from his hands and slipped them under the boulder to set the wold free.

"Okay then… stay calm now- this is going to hurt but you'll be free okay?"

 _Okay_

Dick nearly dropped the boulder. He looked at the big grey wolf. It looked at him with wide blue eyes.

"W-was that you?" Dick asked, eyes huge as his brain tried to comprehend the situation.

The wolf cocked its head.

 _Please help me…_

"Alright, hang on." He lifted the ribbons and the wolf backed up, limping on its bloody paw. It slowly moved towards Dick and smoothed his head under Dick's shaking hand, it's paw lifted slight off the floor.

"L-let's get that paw sorted okay? F-follow me…"

And the two of them waled back to Dick's cave, where the fire had nearly gone out. Dick slowly placed his hands over the wolf's paw and concentrated. He felt a pop and the wolf pulled away with a yelp.

"Sorry! Sorry! Is it fixed?"

The wolf studied its paw and tentatively put some weight on it. He looked at Dick with it's large eyes and slowly lay down next to him.

 _Thank you… Alpha…_

And the big wolf fell asleep, its breath evening out slowly.

Dick didn't sleep all night.

 _Alpha_


	20. Discoveries

Dick used his knife to slide the metal sticking out of his leg at some point between 4 am and 7 am, he couldn't really tell. At his first noise of pain, the wolf lying next to him had woken up and nuzzled his neck in comfort. Dick had jumped in surprise at first but had slowly come to terms with it, and finally had begun to enjoy the touch. His mind was still reeling with what the wolf had called him.

 _Alpha_

Now he wasn't ignorant in wolf pack hierarchy. He knew the alpha was the top-dog in the pack and generally oversaw hunting and so on… but he didn't get why the wolf had called him alpha. He wasn't a wolf and he hadn't done anything particularly exciting or dangerous to help the wolf. So he asked.

"Why did you call me Alpha?" he asked, feeling really weird to be talking to a wolf.

The wolf cocked his head and lowered its head.

 _I have no Alpha now. An Alpha is supposed to protect the pack, and you smell different from other Two-Legs. More powerful._

Dick blinked. Two-Legs? He realised the wolf meant humans and nodded his head slowly.

"Why do not have an Alpha?"

Its ears dropped, and Dick could _feel_ the sadness coming off the wolf.

 _They moved on… without me… the Sleep took them before we could hunt again, and they smelt funny. They smelt like prey… and they should never smell like prey._

Dick slowly moved his hand and ran it down the wolf's ears in comfort. Its family was dead… probably from illness by the sounds of it. The wolf in front of him had been incredibly lucky to not have caught what it was and died.

"Well, you can't stay as 'the wolf' can you? You need a name… at least for now," he looked at the wolf and though about possible names for him. "how about Ace?"

Ace barked and wagged his tail in acceptance of the Alpha's name for him.

Dick smiled softly at the puppiness of the wolf. He smoothed the fur at the top of Ace's head and sighed.

"I need to get back to the base," he looked up suddenly at the big wolf in front of him, "can you smell any other… Two-Legs' in the area?"

Ace moved out of the cave and stuck his nose in the air. After a minute or two he came back to Dick and stuck his head back under his hand.

 _A group of Two-Legs are en-route now. Are they your pack?_

Dick bit his lip. He wasn't sure how to approach the question- if he said no, Ace might attack. If he said yes, Ace could attack Bruce, Tim, Damian and Alfred later.

"Sort of. I am in a… split pack. We have different territories in different areas." He looked at Ace for any sign of confusion, but the wolf just huffed out a frosty breath and wagged his tail at Dick.

Dick knew he would have to get up, so he wasn't risking frostbite from the low flames of the fire he had set up. He got up and flinched from pain shooting out of the cut in his leg. He would have fallen if not for Ace, who shot forward and caught him under his weight.

"Thanks Ace… ow" he gritted his teeth as he righted himself and gripped the fur on Ace's neck for support. It was at this point when he realised quite how big Ace was. He had seen wolves before, and they were normally around 70-80cm from ground to shoulder, but this wolf was around a metre from ground to shoulder and nearly 2 metres in length. He weighed 55 kilograms _easily._ As he leant on Ace, he felt the wolf shake slightly.

 _That feels… odd…_

Dick frowned and steadied himself. He looked at the wolf's fur and almost yelped. The fur around Dick's hand was spiralling blue and green. Like the blue of the Nightwing suit and the green of the Lazarus Pit curling together. Ace's already green eyes flashed. He removed his hand and watched in fascination as the colour curled around Ace's neck and twisted down his legs. It stopped as it hit Ace's paw and reached the tips of his ears. The wolf's grey fur remained the same everywhere else… but wow.

It looked _amazing_.

Ace looked at the blue and green with interest and nudged at Dick's hand. Dick was flabbergasted.

"I'm so sorry! Can you feel anything? Does it hurt?"

But Ace didn't look concerned.

 _Doesn't hurt Alpha… just feels odd. The Two-Legs are getting closer._

And they were. Dick could hear them; they were obviously trying to make noise, so he could hear them. He clutched at Ace's fur and limped towards the sounds of movement up ahead, with a knife in his hand. Just in case. Ace had tensed as they walked, growling slightly as he caught the scent of the people getting closer; Dick stroked his fur to relax him, and to stop him attacking anyone. His eyes were glowing as he pressed against Dick's side.

The men approached and stopped short when they saw the obviously angry and not quite normal wolf in front of the man they were looking for. The man at the front approached slowly, only for Ace's eyes to flash and the growling to get louder.

"Hey- Ace, calm down… they're not going to hurt me. It's okay." He soothed Ace as protective instincts kicked in for the big wolf. Dick walked over to the group of assassins with a limp and smiled wearily. "Hello! How ya doing? I've had an… _eventful_ night."

"It looks like it!" one of the assassins said, staring at Ace distrustingly. "We were sent to find you after you got blown through the roof. Ra's is at the base… and is not happy _at all_."

Dick sighed. They made their way back to the base; with Dick's bum leg they travelled slower than they normally would, but it didn't matter. They made it back to the base and Dick, along with Ace, were directed towards a smaller corridor where Ra's supposedly was. He opened the door, still clutching Ace's fur to steady himself. They made their way down the stairs and Dick nodded when he saw where they were; a Lazarus Pit. He knelt and slipped his legs into the Pit, dipping his fingers into the Waters. The felt the cut on his leg knit back together and sighed in relief as the sharp pain smoothed out. Ace rubbed his nose against Dick's hand and Dick stroked Ace's head.

They waited until Ra's made his way into the room; Dick was getting antsy over Jason. Had the bomb hurt him? Where was he?

Dick tapped his foot on the floor and spun around when the door flung open.

"Grayson, I am glad to see you are not dead." He eyed Ace suspiciously.

"Ra's! Where-where is Jason? I thought he might be hurt, or with you…"

Ra's stared at Ace for a second, the patterns on his ears, neck and legs before looking at Dick with respect. "He is a noble wolf, Grayson. As for your partner… he… well…" Ra's gestured to the screen at the side of the room and the footage of the battle against the robots came on screen. It zoomed in on Jason and Dick couldn't breathe.

Jason got hit on the head.

He got dragged off.

Jason wasn't in the building.

They had no idea where he was.

He stumbled back and Ace barked in alarm, licking his hand as his Alpha's knees hit the floor. Ra's shook his head. "I am sorry Grayson. But I do have some more bad news. It seems the members of the Justice League have slowly gone missing over the past few days. The only thing that you may find comforting is that we know who did it, and that it is the same man who took Jason Todd."

Dick flew up, staring at Ra's with fractured eyes. "Who? How long has Bruce been missing? Anyone else gone apart from the JL?"

He then thought back to the robots. Dick closed his eyes and let out a growl. "Savage."

Ra's sighed "Yes, Vandal Savage. From my sources, it seems that Red Robin and Robin have been taken alongside the Bat. They have been missing maybe two days, less?" he paused and watched the wolf. "Where did you find this wolf Grayson, and why does it have your colours?"

Dick scratched Ace's ears. "His name is Ace, and I freed him from being stuck underneath a boulder, I don't know how he got there. He called me Alpha… and is already rather protective of me. The colours… I don't know… we can understand each other from what I understand- the colours appeared when I pressed my hand on his fur as I leant on him earlier. I really don't know what they mean."

Ra's stayed silent for a while.

"You are connected… through the Pit… it seems like he may have drank a weak strain of the Waters from the Pit… it would explain the acceptance of you and the understanding of each other. The Pit's effects could mean that he has increased intelligence as well."

Dick was silent. He stood up and looked at Ra's. "How long will it take to get a location?"

Ra's walked up the stairs and gestured for Dick to follow him.

"I suggest that you get some rest before you go after anyone Grayson. It will take a few days to get a location. Look after your wolf."

Back in his bedroom, Ace lay on the end of the bed, asleep. Dick curled in his duvet. It was around 8am already, but he needed to sleep. He dropped off with his feet under Ace's steady breathing chest.

He would save his family, no matter what it took.


	21. Gorillas and Friendship

Over the next week, Dick's sleeping schedule were out of whack. He slept when he wasn't eating or training, making sure that Ace had access to the outside if he wanted to go out. The wolf rarely did go out without Dick, only when he was sure that his Alpha wouldn't need his help.

Dick's training focussed on not losing control of his emotions as Ra's believed that he might waver if he saw some of his family in bad condition- which they may be in. That thought made Dick work harder. He also worked with Ace in their newfound connection.

They figured out that Ace could use his connection to the Lazarus Pit to enhance his strength and heal much quicker than a normal wolf, as well as enhanced intelligence. He became quite interested in the smell of the Pit whenever Dick was near it; Dick would always pull him away from the waters instead of letting him in. He wouldn't take any chances.

After seven days of impatiently waiting for a location from Ra's, Dick was finally rewarded only 30 minutes after he had woken up on the seventh day.

"Grayson. We shall provide you with a plane to get there and back to Gotham, as your time with the League of Assassins has ended for now." Ra's nodded his head in respect. "You have surprised me with your resilience when with me. Know that you, and your partners, have earned my respect."

Dick blinked and smiled softly. "Thank you Ra's. It hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be here. See you round."

Dick pulled on his Nightwing suit and fastened his katanas over his shoulders and clicking on his belt. He slid on his gloves and patted Ace's ears, mostly to calm himself down; this was going to be a difficult battle. After Ra's top computer people had done some research, Savage's team seemed to be composed of Sinestro, Grodd, Joker, Black Manta, Luther and obviously Savage himself, along with a horde of robots.

Dick, now Nightwing, knew that he wouldn't be able to take them all out if they were coming at him; he would need to separate them, avoid as many as possible, and get everyone out. He also knew that Luther was in his New York apartment for another three days- one less person to worry about.

Around halfway through their journey, Ace approached Nightwing and wagged his tail, trying to relieve some of Dick's stress. Nightwing gave a weak smile and a sigh.

"I can't believe you wanted to leave your home for my pack Ace… you could have stayed instead."

 _Wouldn't be home without Alpha- Alpha's pack is my pack_. Helicked Dick's gloves hand to reassure him. _I also cannot let you face enemies by yourself._

After another few hours of travelling, Nightwing checked that stealth mode had been turned on in the jet and blew out a nervous breath.

"Here we go Ace; time to kick some bad guy ass- you sure you don't want to stay in the jet?"

Ace jumped on the chair Dick was on, tipping them over. In between Nightwing's spluttering, Ace licked his face until he was sure the vigilante knew his answer.

"Okay, okay- Ace! I get it!" Dick laughed as he sat up and pushed the big wolf off him. He ran a hand through his hair and slid the face mask over his mouth and nose as they approached. Nightwing slowly landed the plane on the furthest part of the island among the trees.

The two exited the plane and closed the platform after them, sliding into the shadows of the trees. Along with Ra's, Dick had planned the arrival of the plane about two hours after the sun had gone down, giving them maximum darkness to hide in. The calculations proved them right as the only light Nightwing could see was the moon above them.

Ace padded in front of him, constantly checking for anyone coming towards them, but no one came. They approached the cave opening and Dick grinned as he saw Grodd pacing outside of the entrance of the caves. _Why did everything have to be in cave?_ He heard his subconscious ask. He shook his head and looked at Ace.

Ace would draw the gorilla out into their territory, and Nightwing would join him to take Grodd out. The wolf dipped its head and snuck around behind Grodd; Nightwing watched as Ace darted out and bit at Grodd's legs and side to irritate him. Grodd yelled in frustration and swung at Ace, who disappeared into the trees. Grodd, predictably, followed him. Nightwing bolted after the wolf and gorilla as they streaked through the forest of thick trees. He stuck to the higher parts of the trees, almost sailing through them along a Ribbon. Keeping an eye on how close Grodd was getting to Ace, Dick silently descended down to reach for the helmet on Grodd's head. He got closer, before Grodd spotted him.

"Nightwing? You shouldn't be here! He said that you were dead! No matter, you will be soon." He struck out at the blue bird, missing by a hair.

"Hiya Grodd," Nightwing grinned, "think you could give me that helmet, or should we take it from you?"

Grodd scoffed, "you think you could take it from me? You aren't skilled enough for that _human_. You should pray I don't bash your head in." he paused for a second as Nightwing leapt back out the way, "did you say we?"

Nightwing's grin widened. Too late Grodd realised his mistake and whirled around, only to get a face-full of Ace, scratching and clawing at the gorilla as he scrambled to get his teeth around the mechanical helmet. Grodd roared and tried in vain to grab the big wolf, but it was too late. Nightwing ran at the monster gorilla and ducked under the angry punch; he wrapped a shadow Ribbon around both of Grodd's ankles and pulled hard. He fell face first onto the ground and Dick pressed a pressure point on his back to knock him out.

Ace wagged his tail as he approached Dick, who was tying Grodd up. They made their way back to the cave entrance exactly on time with their schedule of getting in. Soldier robots stood inside the cave; there was no getting in that way. In research, Dick had found that the bunker had a number of 'collapsed' tunnels leading into the mountain, used when it was being mined. Most of them had just been sealed off, but two hadn't. One was a way into the centre of the mountain, where Dick could find out where Savage could find out where the JL had been taken.

Ace nudged away a rock to reveal the entrance to one of the cave tunnels. With just a few tugs to the wood covering it, it gave way with minimal noise. Nightwing climbed inside, Ace right behind him. They slowly made their way through the rubble-filled tunnel and approached the end of the timber supported parts. Ace pawed at an area that was blocked off.

 _Here,_ he said, pressing his nose against the rock. _I hear less here- but this smells like pack. Like Alpha's… mate._

Nightwing nodded and whispered, "okay- let me through. I'm going to try and burn through the rock- is anything on the other side?"

Ace shook his head and stepped back. Nightwing took off his gloves and placed them on the rock next to him; he then placed his hands on the wall, closed his eyes and thought about Jason- about how Savage's robots had hurt him. Rage flooded through him and he felt the rock shift under his hands. He concentrated until he was sure the wall had a big enough hole to get him and Ace through. As he opened his eyes, he was aware of a slight green tint to their surroundings, he looked at Ace and saw his spiral from his ears to his paws was glowing slightly, but Ace didn't seem concerned. He just padded silently into the room.

Nightwing followed, and he realised that they had broken _into_ a cell- how ironic. He looked out the unlocked cell door- _security cameras_. That wasn't unexpected. He got out a device Bruce always had on him, put his hands on the floor and snaked a Ribbon under the crack in the door; it slid along the shadows in the corridor and slowly attached the device to the camera. Dick watched as the green light started flashing and then flickered back to green- footage looped and playing back. Perfect.

Dick opened the door quietly and made his way towards the electricity box at the end of the corridor; he fiddled with the wires a bit and an image came up on screen. It was the room where the JL was being held captive. He saw Jason, anger and grief splashed across his face- in fact everyone seemed like that- why were they like that?

Dick looked for the room that they were in- bingo! _Blueprints_. They would be helpful to get his way around. Ace suddenly began to growl and Nightwing shut the box quickly, moving back into the dark, unlocked cell to see who was coming past. Two robots walked past the door and Dick struck quickly- he placed his still gloveless hands on the robots' backs and they disintegrated under his touch. Nightwing smiled in victory and turned around. Ace came towards him with his black gloves; Dick placed his gloves on his hands and stroked Ace's ears softly.

"You ready Ace?"

Ace bared his long sharp teeth in a grin and shook his fur. _Ready when you are Alpha._

Dick smiled widely, and the pair made their way silently through the dark corridors.

Savage didn't know what was coming for him.

 **Okay so I actually did this twice because I didn't like the first draft- sorry I didn't get it up yesterday. I really hope you are enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. Next will be Sinestro and then the final battle. Are there any suggestions for a particular idea anyone wants? I'm happy to do what the readers want! Thanks for reading!**

 **-E xx**


	22. Battles and Forgetfulness

Nightwing slowly made his way through the corridors, hiding from robots and soldiers alike with Ace in small closets and vents. The pair made their way from hallway to hallway, heading in the general direction of the furthest part of the mountain from where they had come in.

After sneaking around for a while, Ace stiffened. He growled softly in the back of his throat, pressing up against the wall. Nightwing followed suit and frowned at Ace.

He lowered his voice so that it was barely loud enough to be heard and said, "who is it Ace? How many?"

Ace cocked his head and sniffed the air _. They are odd,_ Ace's voice said in his head, _they smell like fish, but also Two-Legs. Smells like there is about 14 fish-two-legs._

Nightwing blinked and wracked his brains. Who was Ace talking about? Fish… people.

 _Black Manta._

How could he have forgotten? There must be some of his soldiers come to accompany him. Ace nudged him, and Dick quickly bought up his communications jammer. It wouldn't last long; he would need to be quick in taking down the men coming.

"Okay Ace," he whispered, "I'm going to set this off and charge at them, stay next to me. Black Manta is well trained, I just hope that his soldiers aren't smart enough to go looking for help." Seeing Ace's head bob in conformation of his plan, Dick slowly pulled his katanas out of their holders. He took a deep breath and pressed the button on the device. As soon as he heard a fizzing noise, he and Ace whipped around the corner at top speed. After multiple yells, Black Manta's men began to get their bearings.

A few had daggers, but most had guns. Ace dove at the guns, using his bulk to bash the men out of the way as they struggled to avoid shooting each other in the small space. Dick span quickly and ducked under hits. He used the surprise to his advantage and went on the offensive. He moved faster than the other men to avoid hits and struck them hard. He used his katanas to balance himself and cut through their armour. He slices through the black metal and delicate wires with ease; the open wires flung themselves around and electrocuted the suits that the men were in. Black Manta's men yelled out in pain as they were knocked unconscious by the shocks.

Next, Nightwing faced Manta himself, who was getting out his swords from their sheaths.

"Savage told me that you were no more. Showed us a video too. How did you get out of the explosion?" He avoided a strike from Nightwing just as Ace took out the last of his men.

Nightwing smiled, although he knew Manta wouldn't be able to see it, and said, "I'm a man of surprises Manta! Found a new friend as well, as you can see."

They went back and forth for a few minutes before Dick felt the device in his pocket vibrate- one-minute left on the block. Time to be more serious. He surged forwards and knocked Manta's swords out of his hands in one swift motion. He swiped his katanas upwards and cut straight through the metal on his chestplate. The cuts sparked and fizzed; Nightwing used his katanas to direct two spirals of shadow Ribbons to curl around Manta who began to panic. He shouted incoherently as Dick tightened his grip until Manta was unconscious and dropped him in a heap on the floor.

Dick turned to see Ace gathering the weapons together in a pile. The two of them dragged the men into a closet and jammed it shut after removing all communicators. They pushed the weapons to the side and carried on walking down the corridor, silently padding through the mountain.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of tense walking, Ace and Nightwing came to set of large wooden doors, guarded by 2 men on each side, alongside 2 robots.

Nightwing cursed softly and looked for another entrance. He searched until he heard a soft bark from Ace; he looked over and saw Ace pawing at a large vent around the corner. His eyes sparkled in victory.

"Good job Ace" Dick whispered and began to work at the cover on the vent with his powerful laser. When the vent cover gave way, Ace slipped in before Nightwing, who replaced the cover quickly.

It was a bit squished for Ace, but they made it through the vents onto a slim platform above the area that the JL, Damian, Tim and Jason were restrained. Anger flowed through his veins at the sight of his family looking so… broken.

Nightwing clenched his fists and breathed out. He let Ribbons flow out of his hands, slowly travelling around the room. His breathing began to get slightly heavier as he anticipated the upcoming battle. He was about to jump down before Ace's ears pricked up and Dick heard his voice in his head, almost panicking.

 _Someone's coming! They smell different to other Two-Legs… he smells sour. Erratic. Who smells like that- it's just wrong._

Still keeping an eye on the Ribbons positioned around the room, Dick bought up a screen-like shadow to cover up him and Ace from other people's view. The wooden doors opened, and Dick gritted his teeth at the bone-chilling laughter that emitted from the figure.

"HAHAHA- look what we have here! The whole family! Oh wait…" he walked up to Batman and grinned widely. "We have one missing, don't we?" he took out a knife from his jacket. "Such a same, isn't it? Wingnut couldn't wait to die before I got my hands on him, could he? Ah well," he approached Jason, "looks like I will have to make do with who I've got."

Jason leaned back, trying to get away from the clown and Dick's anger grew. The Joker grabbed Jason's chin and yanked forwards, and Dick lost it.

The Ribbons shot up the walls and began to twist around. Dick felt a Ribbon slip under his and Ace's feet and they floated in mid-air, moving so everyone could see them. The room exploded into chaos. Ace launched himself at the crowds of robots swarming into the room, clawing and jumping and diving, ripping the metal to shreds as if it was paper.

Dick felt anger ripple through him and he took out his katanas. He jumped from the ribbons into the fray. Okay, maybe it wasn't such a good idea… _ah well_ , he thought.

For the first time since the Lazarus Pit experiments, Dick felt _whole_. He let out a yell and attacked in full force against the robots, slicing through the metal limbs like they were made of butter, he slashed and hacked through enemies, not stopping to breathe. Men attacked from all sides, prompting Dick to focus. He saw Ace weaving in and out of the soldiers, biting, clawing and pushing at anyone who got in his way. Nightwing pushed the Ribbons out from his arms and began to rise in the air. He swung the katanas around taking out enemies faster than they could come at him- he felt truly _alive_. He was aware of everything- how every person was tensing and where they would swing, how to take them down, how to break and incapacitate someone without killing them.

Ace howled in victory as he took down more people and Dick grinned from beneath his face mask. He kept swinging until he felt chains begin to wrap around his wrists and drag him down. He was yanked to the ground; he looked up and two large pulleys held thick metal chains that were currently locked around his arms. Jason yelled out as the Joker, who had landed near him, pushed the knife he had along Jay's leg.

He closed his eyes and fell to his knees, concentrating.

Dick thought about Jason. About Bruce. Tim. Damian. About the Justice League. Thought about how they were going to be killed if he didn't do anything.

When he opened his eyes, they glowed Lazarus Green- the soldiers began to step back at the murderous look. He was going to _wreck_ them.

Anyone paying attention to Ace (like the Justice League were) saw how his curious blue and green fur began to glow, along with his eyes.

Would have noticed how the room had begun to shake.

The soldiers began to wobble dangerously and back away from Dick, who's eyes were glowing the same shade as Ace's.

Dick stood up slowly. The room still shaking.

"You hurt my family" he growled, his voice echoing around the room loudly. Dick grabbed onto the chains and threw his head back, yanking on the chains.

What happened next was completely unexpected. A shockwave pulsed out from Dick as he let out a yell, sending anyone close to him flying into the walls; the chains locked around his wrists crumbled under his touch and he griped his katanas and shadow Ribbons exploded from the tips as Dick directed them. They swirled around the room, mimicking his anger. His hair whipped around his face and he was breathing heavily as he and Ace approached the Joker. Joker looked scared as Nightwing slowly walked towards him, using Ribbons so that neither he or his wolf was touching the floor, making them look more imposing than they would normally would. Katanas in hand, Nightwing lifted Joker up until they were face to face. He lifted the katanas and poised them over the Joker's heart.

"Go on, Wing! Kill me! Heaven knowns I deserve it, HAHAHAHA" the Joker broke out in hysterical laughter and Dick pressed his katana hard against the madman's throat the quiet him. He gritted his teeth.

It would be so easy. One swipe. Gone. But instead, Dick roared in anger and flung the clown across the room, making him slump against the wall, unconscious like most of the people in the room.

Dick's breathing was harsh and angry as he sheathed his twin katanas and headed over to the restrained heroes. Ace rubbed against him, staring at him with beautiful green eyes, asking a silent question. _Is it over?_

A crack resounded around the big hall. Yellow light flowed in from the door. Sinestro.

The yellow lantern grinned at Dick, "forgot about me didn't you?"

 _He had forgotten._


	23. The Yellow of Exhaustion

Nightwing stared for a second, disbelief that the yellow lantern had come; he figured that Sinestro wouldn't be too bothered with their skirmish but apparently, he was wrong.

Sinestro looked around and whistled at the piles of unconscious men and broken robots around the room along with small piles of rubble from the ceiling. His eyes fell on Joker, lying in a heap on the floor closest to the door.

"He do something to piss you off? I can tell." The yellow lantern grinned evilly and cracked his knuckles loudly, "okay then- time for you to die."

He sent a blast of yellow energy at Dick, who deflected it quickly with a shadow. The two exchanged blows for a few minutes, testing. After Sinestro had had enough, he rose into the air and began to tunnel through the mountain sideways until he reached the outside.

The two stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move; the tension could be cut with a knife. Nightwing narrowed his shattered eyes and moved a ribbon until it was under his feet. He rose up slightly, and Sinestro crashed into him. Dick felt the sting of cold wind as he was flung outside through the mountain, he caught himself just before he hit the floor and frantically looked around for the glow of yellow around him, he grabbed his katanas out and put them in front of his face just in time for Sinestro to crash into him with daggers; the blast flattened the trees around them- _whoops_. Every blow they exchanged blew a shockwave around them, Dick cried out as the energy dagger burnt his arm as it caught him, he curled shadow Ribbons around his katanas and struck harder blows to even the field, but he knew from Sinestro's smirk that he believed he was going to win. He probably was, if he was honest.

Dick span around and the wind picked up around them, the ground shook slightly under their feet; if Nightwing was going to die to the Yellow Lantern, he was going to die trying to bring Sinestro with him.

 **With Ace…**

Ace watched as his Alpha was shoved out of the hole in the rock by the Yellow-Not-Man. He barked loudly in panic, running to the edge of the rocks to see Alpha trading hits with the Yellow-Not-Man, blasting trees and plants alike as they fought against each other, but he could see Alpha was tiring; Ace wasn't surprised. He had taken out many of their enemies and was about to free his packmates when Yellow-Not-Man showed up. Packmates!

Ace ran to the restrained Justice League, who stiffened when he came close. He sniffed around until he got to the man who smelled like Alpha the most. His mate. The big wolf places his teeth around the large electrical collar and squeezed. He felt the metal give way under his bite and a sharp electrical shock that ran through his whole being had him backpedalling into the wall- but his mission was a success. Alpha's mate was free of the horrible collar that shocks you… but not of the restraints around his wrists. Ace tore through them quickly and rubbed himself on his Alpha's mate's side, seeking a thank you.

He was pleased to receive a shaky pat between the ears for his troubles, and a quiet, "you are fucking huge, wolfie…"

The ground rocked, and an explosion made small stones fall from the ceiling, warning them of what going on outside. Ace whined in distress as he heard his Alpha cried out in pain for the second time- he had to do something. The wolf turned to Alpha's mate, who looked back at him through their mirrored green eyes.

Alpha's mate shook his head and said in a rushed voice, "help me free the others wolf, then we can all help 'Wing out… stop him from dying… just after I got him back." Ace could smell sadness and fear there, along with hope and pride.

Jason and Ace began to untie everyone there, but no one seemed to trust Ace yet- he growled low in his throat when they didn't look like they were going to help Alpha. _Didn't they understand that he would last long? Didn't they know that he might die?_

The man in the blue with a red cape said something to the others, but it was cut off by a loud roar of pain from outside. _Alpha._ Ace barked in alarm, prompting everyone to look at him. He paced back and forth, frustrated that they couldn't understand. He pawed at Alpha's mate with a whine, wanting him to help Alpha.

Alpha's mate said something to the other people, and Red-Cape began to float… said something like "keep busy" before taking off, albeit slowly. The woman and Fast-Red also began to make their way towards his Alpha. They had got his message- or they just cared for his Alpha… either one meant that his Alpha wasn't going to die… he hoped.

 **Jason's point of view**

The Red Hood was a mess of emotions- he was overjoyed at Dick actually being alive. Nothing could have replaced the feeling of elation at his boyfriend's sudden and angry appearance as Joker had gone to hit him… _ugh._

But he was horrified when that bastard Yellow Lantern had taken Dick out the side of the mountain, at the shaking in the floor… how could they help him? The wolf seemed to trust him more than the rest of them- they didn't like the look of the strange blue, green and grey wolf that was slightly too big to be considered normal…

The wolf had hit him on the leg to try and get his attention; none of the others seemed to get that the wolf wanted them to help Dick.

 _Of course…_

The wolf trusted Dick; fought a battle with him for fucks sake! He cared for Dick…

Superman, Wonder Woman and Flash moved outside after he told them what he believed the wolf wanted. He went, along with the wolf, running outside to find them fighting in a ring of flattened trees.

The supers that were helping Dick were avoiding his shadows… they seemed afraid of them… Green Lantern closed his eyes and his ring glowed slightly

He sighed in relief after a second, "they only need to keep him busy for a few minutes longer… back up is on its way… in the form of a blue lantern that owes me a favour."

Batman looked at him and he looked at Batman; an understanding passed between them, then through Red Robin and Robin. As one, the big wolf pressed against his side included, they began to run at the yellow lantern.

The next few minutes were a blur. He fought with the Bats and Justice League against Sinestro harder than he had had to fight in a long time. Ribbons flowed around them, weaving in and out of the dark shadows cast by the mountain above them. The big wolf leaped at the lantern, trying to draw his attention from one person to another.

Sinestro and Dick were still the centre of everything; two powerful beings fighting for dominance as the battle progressed, they rose into the air, shockwave after shockwave buffeting everyone else back as their attacks grew stronger. Jason covered his eyes as dust was swept into the air by the wind as it whipped around them, not giving up for a second. He began to panic as he saw that Sinestro was getting the upper hand; Dick was doing everything he could to stop the yellow lantern's blows from causing large damage. He swung his shadow Ribbons around him, stopping the majority of the blows before they hit him.

When it looked like he couldn't take anymore, Dick sunk to his knees. Sinestro stood over him, smirking, and said, "given up, Nightwing? Such a shame. You had promise!"

Dick looked up and Sinestro frowned at the smile on his face, "not giving up Sinestro- I just know when to call for help."

As he said that, Saint Walker, the blue lantern, came thundering down from the sky. He sent out a wave of blue energy that disrupted Sinestro's power ring. He fell to the ground and looked up in horror as Dick began to drop- he spun as he handed, striking Sinestro hard across the cheek and knocking him out.

No one moved as the Ribbons of shadow began to fade around them.

Suddenly, the wolf bolted forwards and braced himself against Dick… then they realised why as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and dropped to the floor, draped over the big wolf, who whimpered and barked softly.

 _Alpha…_

 **Okay this was difficult to get right. For anyone who is wondering, I hadn't actually watched the new YJ: Outsiders trailer until someone mentioned it; but yes, Nightwing's mask is a lot like that mask. The costume would contain more green outlines, and his eyes would be blue and green, but yes, if you wanted a visual, look at that. :)**

 **-E**


	24. Coming Home

"I found the jet!" Superman said urgently, still floating in the air.

Jason shifted Dick who was still out cold from exertion in his fight against Sinestro. His boyfriend let out a soft sigh and the wolf whined and licked his gloves fingers, as if willing him to wake up.

Jason looked at Superman and said quietly, "how many will it fit inside?"

"Should fit all of us; it looks big enough- should the wolf be allowed in? I mean, it's an enclosed space… it could attack at any time. I don't think I could be quick enough to stop it if it tries anything."

At this, the wolf growled and pressed against Jason, tensing up in case he had to fight.

Jason shook his head. "No. He's obviously not a normal wolf," he said, looking pointedly at the patterns on his upper body, "I think he may be linked with Dick somehow. We can ask him when he wakes up."

Martian Manhunter stepped forwards. "If I may," he said quietly, "this wolf's mind is sophisticated, working at the same speed as humans would. I believe I could set up a mind link between us; it may give us a better insight into their partnership."

Bruce nodded and the Martian's eyes glowed light green. Jason felt a link being set up, and the wolf stood next to him jump in surprise at the connection. Jason, still walking towards the jet hidden in the trees, stopped to look at the wolf. The wolf looked back at him, staying close to Dick.

 _Will Alpha be okay?_

They all jolted in surprise at the wolf's question. Alpha?

"Is… is Dick- Nightwing- your alpha?" Jason asked, holding Dick closer to his chest.

The wolf wagged his tail slightly and butted his head against Dick's limp hand, as if expecting him to comfort him. When he got no reply, his ears fell and he looked down in sadness. He looked up at Jason with green eyes.

 _You are Alpha's mate- why won't he wake up_? Panic flowed through the link as the wolf's breathing began to increase, _has he gone into the Big Sleep like my first pack? Will be smell like prey?_

Jason blinked, and Bruce stepped forwards to take Dick out of his arms. The Red Hood bent slightly so that he was eye level with the wolf.

"Dick- your alpha… he is just tired. You saw him before, didn't you? He will need to sleep that one off. I'm just glad that… that he's _alive_."

Jason let out a choked breath and squeezed his eyes closed. He felt something against his side and opened his eyes to see the wolf rubbing against him in comfort.

 _Alpha calls me Ace- I figured you would want to call me something other than 'wolf'._

The newly dubbed Ace gave a wolfish grin and barked trotting off the jet. He looked behind him as if to say, _'hurry up'_. The rest of them hurried to catch him up as the jet opened and he walked up.

The few hours journey in the jet was tense and full of worry. J'ohn cut the link and fell asleep in the chair, alongside Flash, who had eaten everything on the jet.

Aquaman had not come with them but jumped into the sea. Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Superman were flying outside, every now and again looking inside with concern.

Jason and Ace sat on either side of Dick, Bruce sat next to Jason and Tim piloting the jet. Damian had fallen asleep against Ace, who didn't seem to mind. He kept his gaze on Dick the whole time.

Jason leaned into Bruce who didn't hesitate to put an arm around his second son.

"I'm glad I have you back Bluejay." He whispered to Jason, who closed his eyes and leaned further into Bruce.

He let out a sad sound. "I wish it had been before we have gotten captured… and Dick used the power he got from the Pit to save us… I wish our lives were somewhat normal for a change."

Bruce snorted softly, "Dick would tell you to stop complaining." He smiled when he saw Jason grin faintly. "Jason, I meant to ask… what happened while you were with Ra's?"

Jason tensed up, but he got no chance to object before Tim announced, along with Damian, who had woken up, that they wanted to know as well. So Jason explained. He started at the beginning, from when they had spent time in their suite doing nothing right up to Savage butting into the Alaskan base as they just arrived- he kept his eyes closed for the most part, just opened then slightly to sooth Dick's hair slightly out of his eyes. When he finished, there was silence in the jet, only broken by Damian.

"Grayson… died? Like, he actually died escaping Savage?" he sounded very much like the thirteen-year-old he was, eyes wide and disbelieving.

Tim let out a shallow breath and said, "so you've had to go through Dick dying twice, or not really dying the second time, but still…"

Jason clenched his fists, but Ace licked his arm in comfort as he felt anger and grief rising inside him. Instead he said, "when Dick was bought back to life, it was like the Pit had thrown something else at him. He wasn't sleeping a lot due to nightmares- it was difficult for him to deal with, and I _hated_ seeing him like that. Especially because at first his powers were acting up because he couldn't control them."

Damian swallowed harshly and looked away. Bruce didn't say anything, just looked at the sleeping figure on the bed. Dick looked peaceful and carefree on the bed, his face free of stress or worry, his shoulders free of tension.

After another hour of almost complete silence, the wolf, Ace, perked up his ears and sniffed at Dick. Jason and Bruce looked at the sleeping figure with interest; was he waking up?

Their questions were answered when Dick shot up in panic, his eyes pure green. He pressed his hands against his head and _screamed._

"DON'T GO LITTLE WING PLEASE!" he began to jerk to the side, and Jason knew that he would hurt himself if they didn't do something; he and Bruce both grabbed an arm and pulled him down until he was lying on his back. Dick continued to writhe in a desperate attempt to get free- in the commotion, both Flash and Manhunter had woken up in shock from the scream and looked in horror at the scene before them.

Jason, still holding onto one arm, slipped his hand into Dick's and said desperately, "Dick! It's me, it's Jason! You gotta calm down! I am right here-we all are!"

But Dick didn't stop thrashing in their arms, a single tear falling from his unnatural green eyes as he fought. Bruce kept steady hands on Dick, but Jason could tell that he was finding this difficult- being completely helpless as his eldest was in so much pain.

After Dick didn't stop thrashing, Jason didn't know what to do- it was obvious he was trapped in a nightmare of some kind, and they had no idea how to wake him up. He was still fighting to keep his boyfriend still, so he didn't hurt himself.

Turns out _they_ didn't need to help Dick. Ace's fur began to glow slightly, and Damian backed away from the wolf in shock. He touched Dick's hand was his nose and whined; Dick began to still. With panting breaths, his eyes slowly returned to their shattered state. He let out a sob and, breaking out of Jason and Bruce's weak holds, flung his arms around Ace's furry neck, burying his face into the blue fur.

No one moved; the only sound was Dick's muffled sobs.

Jason snapped out of it first. "Dickie…?" he said, moving towards Dick on the floor.

Dick looked up and slid over to Jason. "I'm sorry," he said, looking around at everyone, "I'm sorry… did I hurt anyone?"

"Hey, Dickie- look at me… it's okay- you didn't hurt anyone. You were more likely gonna hurt yourself. Scared the shit outa me and everyone in the jet!" his laugh was more of a sob to anyone who was really paying attention- but no one was.

Dick shakily got up and approached Bruce, who was staring at him with unreadable eyes. Dick wobbled slightly but stayed upright and Bruce got up, pulling him close. It must not have been what he thought was going to happen, because Dick looked astonished. But never one to miss an opportunity, he hugged back fiercely.

"I missed you two while you were gone. So did Tim and Damian and Alfred. I'm glad to have you back."

He stepped back, and Dick was immediately assaulted with Tim and Damian tackling him to the ground, squeezing him hard. Dick winced from the pressure but hugged back with enthusiasm.

"I missed all of you too… S'not the same without you all."

Not a single person said anything about his eyes.

When the jet touched down on the Batcave landing pad, everyone got out of the jet before Dick and Jason; they were going to surprise Alfred. _God knows that he could use some good news_ , Jason thought.

Jason squeezed Dick's hand and Dick smiled at him. He stroked Ace's head and the big wolf pressed against his alpha.

"Master Bruce! Oh, I am so glad you are home- you really do know how to worry an old man." Jason could hear the relief in Alfred's tone. "Is everyone alright, does anyone require anything?"

Bruce spoke up then. "There's something in the jet for you Alfred. Go take a look."

Jason heard Alfred make his way towards the jet entrance, heard him come up the platform. He finally saw Alfred's eyes as they reached his.

"Oh my goodness… Master Jason, Master Dick… and a wolf?"

Ace barked and wagged his tail as Dick and Jason leaned into Alfred's shaky embrace.

 _Finally. This was home._


	25. Helicopter Families and Freedom

It took a number of days before Dick was fully up and about after exhausting himself. Jason and Ace stayed by his side through his recovery, helping him when he asked for it and giving him space he needed it. It was obvious that Dick needed to get out of the house, but with a helicopter dad, boyfriend, brothers, butler/grandfather, as well as a wolf who heard his every step, he really didn't have much of a chance of getting out without anyone knowing.

It was 12 days after he had got home, and Dick was at his breaking point. The rest of them were out on patrol, Alfred was on comms and he was 'sleeping' with Ace next to him, the wolf's slow breathing giving away that he was sleeping. Slowly, he crept out of bed. Ace stirred but didn't wake as he opened his door and padded down the stairs; he opened the Bat cave entrance and made his way down the cold stone steps with bare feet.

Dick heard Alfred sigh in relief before asking whether they were coming home yet, but he moved on too quick to hear the answer. Dick made his way towards one of the empty training rooms and slid on his noise cancelling headphones before shutting the door behind him.

Silence dominated the room and Dick _breathed_.

He felt the Pit's power flow through his blood and ribbons uncurled from his hands; he placed the blindfold over his eyes and felt himself being lifted from the ground and swing him gently around the big room. Dick smiled as the ribbons spiralled around the room, he could feel every surface that they touched, could feel the incredibly subtle changes in temperature as they brushed against different walls.

The feeling of letting go was incredible as he drifted in and out of the shadows, felt the tension drain from his body as he manipulated the ribbons, curling them around the corners of the room; nothing could hide from him in here. Time for some practise.

Dick reached with a ribbon and pressed the button on the side of the wall to set off the paintball guns. They focussed on body heat and were a difficult challenge to beat, but he wasn't going to stop until he beat it.

He began to weave himself through the firing, creating a shield-like cover over his head to stop the pellets hitting him there. As he shifted the ribbons, he felt he guns move in front of him; Dick smiled and span in a quick circle, wrapping himself in the dark materials as body armour before reaching for his katanas that he had put in here earlier.

 _Time for some fun._

 **Jason's point of view**

The Red Hood pulled his bike into the Batcave to see his 'family', minus Dick, in a small circle around Ace. Jason immediately had alarms going off in his head- Ace hadn't left Dick's side willingly in the past two weeks. Why had he started now?

He looked at Bruce, who had his cowl down, a concerned look on his face as he turned to face Jason.

"Dick isn't in his room. Alfred believes that Ace may want us to follow him." Bruce's gruff voice hid his worry as he gestured for Ace to show them where Dick was.

The wolf impatiently bolted around the corner of the cave, whining as he saw everyone was being slow. When everyone did catch up to him, he was clawing at a door. Jason frowned- this was a training room wasn't it?

A yell echoed from inside and Ace barked in alarm, making the boys behind him jump (not that any of them would admit it).

Jason got his hands around the door and yanked it open, but what he saw inside made him drop his jaw.

It was Dick… all the targets in the training room had been hit and were green, and in the middle of the room was the Host of the Lazarus Pit. He sat on a cloud of shadows, his hands lazily controlling the spiralling ribbons above him. Dick was blindfolded and had thick earphones on- why had he come down here? Wasn't he recovering from overtaxing himself?

He yelped as he was lifted off the floor by a ribbon; he looked around and everyone was in the same position except Alfred, who was calmly sipping his tea as if being lifted by a shadow was normal for him. They were set down carefully on a shadowy platform in front of Dick, who had taken off his blindfold and earphones and was smiling-

The smile was relaxed and easy, a complete contrast to the violent ribbons whipping a few metres above his head.

Jason was the first to break the silence by saying "got bored?"

Dick snorted and stood up. "Needed this," he said breathily, "to focus… needed the freedom."

Tim slid forward, pressing his hands onto the surface they were on. "Dick… what else can you do? And please don't exert yourself, it's just curiosity."

Dick smiled. A chunk of metal was ripped off the ceiling by a ribbon and lowered to where Dick was. He placed his hands on it, concentrated, and as if it hadn't been metal at all, it crumpled into dust.

They spent the next hour testing what Dick could do, as well as trying to sneak up on him. Alfred smiled from his position in the corner, his tea resting a ribbon to his left as he sat on a small chair, watching the boys have their fun.

After the hour was up, Dick reached out to his father and brothers with his ribbons and pulled them towards him to sleep. They began to complain, but their words were ignored. Ace curled into Dick's side, and Dick watched as his family fell asleep. He smiled and hugged Jason close, letting his head fall onto Jason's shoulder.

No one said anything about the new picture that appeared on the side of the central monitor in the Batcave. No one needed to.

 **OKAY, IT'S DONE! That was the final chapter! But I could write a sequel if people wanted me to? I'm open to prompts and story ideas- I might make it Jaydick though- that is my favourite batfam ship! Thank you so much for reading!**

 **-E**


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